Why would a seventy-year-old ever need to be fast? First, you have to examine the six qualities of youthfulness: flexibility, strength, speed, leanness, ideal body weight, good posture. These are qualities that all athletes have, and they all work in synch.
You’ll never find an athlete who wants to be slower. However, speed cannot exist without flexibility and strength. If you are inflexible or weak, you will certainly be slow and more prone to injuries. As we age, our responses become slower and slower, so focusing on being faster trains your brain to respond more quickly in all actions. So if you trip, you can catch yourself before you fall and fracture a hip.
In the Happy Body, we treat the brain as another organ that has to be taken care of and trained in conjunction with the rest of the body. And if you have the other qualities of youthfulness, you’ll always bounce back. Happy Bodies are more like rubber balls than glass sculptures: what can be a break for someone less fit ends up being just a strain for a Happy Body.
So speeding up when everyone else is slowing down is a very good idea.
Learn more about the six qualities of youthfulness in The Happy Body: The Simple Science of Nutrition, Exercise and Relaxation by Aniela & Jerzy Gregorek.
Aniela, thank you for this inspirational post and sharing a picture of you! After the retreat I started to do more about relaxation, and I find it such hard work. I am certainly calmer and more collected with the meditation, poems, and walks. And yet I catch myself working really hard to keep my thoughts from scattering away in all directions. Another extreme — too much relaxation and feeling bored and sleepy. Still trying to figure out how to keep the brain‘s horses facing in one direction.
Mariya,
You are already aware of how your mind works which is progress. Old habits are ingrained into our psych very deeply, they becomes our “second nature” or automatic. To introduce a new habit that would substitute the old one is a conscious work – until it becomes natural to us. It’s good to watch your attitude, while you practice to get better, something you have control over to change at an instant.