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LIFESTYLES AND AGING
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By Shirlee Smith, Ontario, Canada

The number of individuals who are now surviving into old age is increasing. There is often an assumption that as people grow older, they experience poorer health and more disabilities. While research shows that older people are healthier than stereotypes suggest, it is nonetheless a fact that an overall decline in health and rise in rates of disability do accompany aging. Mobility difficulties, loss of vision and/or hearing late in life will tax an individual's ability to cope with day to day tasks that are usually taken for granted. It is a challenge that some will meet head on and that others will struggle with.
The World Health Organization (1981) uses the notion of "handicap" to refer to a situation where an individual with a disability is disadvantaged relative to others in society. According to their definition, an individual experiences a handicap when he or she is prevented, as a result of a disability, from fulfilling the roles that would be considered normal for someone of comparable age and gender in that society.

Adopting a "Positive Lifestyle" can help us to develop and maintain our physical and spiritual well-being as we grow older.

How might one define a "Positive Lifestyle?" What are some of the elements?

1. SPIRITUALITY
This is a flexible term, which is used in many ways. It is used here to include our religious beliefs, practices and activity, time spent alone, being with nature, meditating, praying and reflecting.
"All is in the hands of God, and without Him there can be no health in us!"
('Abdu'l-Baha, Paris Talks, p.19)
"When a man turns his face to God he finds sunshine everywhere." (‘Abdu'l-Baha, Paris Talks, p. 15)
"Happy the days that have been consecrated to the remembrance of God, and blessed the hours which have been spent in praise of Him Who is the All-Wise." ( Baha'u'llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 138)

2) A LOVING RELATIONSHIP WITH FAMILY AND FRIENDS

Are there people you like to be with? Is there, at least, one person that knows enough and cares enough to respond to what you want to say? Is there someone with whom you can have a conversation and walk away feeling better? Can they also count on you to be there for them?

"Deal ye one with another with the utmost love and harmony, with friendliness and fellowship." (Baha'u'llah, Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, p.14)

"Treat all thy friends and relatives, even strangers, with a spirit of utmost love and kindliness" (‘Abdu'l-Baha, Baha'i National Review, July 1982, No. 120, p.3)

3) COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT

To what extent are you utilizing community resources to expand your life? This includes work, community service and being out and about in the world around you. Do you attend community events? Keep in touch with people? Doing work as a volunteer or as a paid employee adds to your well being.
"Think ye at all times of rendering some service to every member of the human race." (‘Abdu'l-Baha, Selections from the Writings of 'Abdu'l-Baha, p.3)
"…when occupied with work one is less likely to dwell on the unpleasant aspects of life." (Baha'u'llah, Tablets of Baha'u'llah, p.175)

4) USE OF LEISURE TIME

Evaluate your use of leisure time. It is easy to drift into sitting alone, watching television, overeating, not exercising and reading uninteresting materials. Consider hobbies, art, music, creativity and other satisfying activities. There is no question that exposing oneself to a new experience is the most important pathway to a steady growth of lifestyle. Have you learned any new skills recently?
"It is enjoined upon every one of you to engage in some form of occupation, such as crafts, trades and the like. We have graciously exalted your engagement in such work to the rank of worship unto God, the True One." (Baha'u'llah, Tablets of Baha'u'llah, p. 175)

5) FITNESS

Some energy should be directed to keeping fit. Attention to diet and nutrition is essential. Get some exercise on a regular basis. Are you learning what you need to know to work with your illness or disability for independent living? Are you learning techniques to deal with stress? Are you doing all you need to do to stay fit?
"Think not of your own limitations, dwell only on the welfare of the Kingdom of Glory." ('Abdu'l-Baha. Paris Talks, p.166)

Growing older does not have to mean loss of independence. If one has a disability, it does not have to mean that the quality of life is reduced. It can mean change and challenge. Independence is based upon the ability to make choices and information about alternatives. Family, friends and professional caregivers must be careful not to take the right of choice from older adults who may be experiencing sensory or physical disabilities.
"Be fair to yourselves and to others, that the evidences of justice may be revealed, through your deeds, among Our faithful servants." (Baha'u'llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 278)
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RECEIVING THE GIFT OF HEALTH
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By Bill and Phoebe Anne Lemmon, Quebec, Canada

“Although ill health is one of the unavoidable conditions of man, truly it is hard to bear. The bounty of good health is the greatest of all gifts.”('Abdu'l-Baha, Selections from the Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, #132, p. 151)
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As we age we can certainly understand and agree with these two statements (see above) of ‘Abdu’l-Baha . We live one day, one moment at a time, scarcely noticing the passing years until that morning when we roll out of bed instead of bouncing out with energy and our body says, “I don’t care what you want to do; I’ve been around for 60 (or 50 or 70) years and I’m slowing down”. Unless we’ve been motivated to do so earlier in life - and hopefully we have been by something other than illness - this is the time to listen to our body, be kind to it, and work with it.
Today’s environment is not conducive to maintaining or achieving good health. We really have to work at being healthy! This takes expenditures of time, energy, and money. How do we justify such expenditures when the needs of the Faith are so great? ‘Abdu’l-Baha tells us, “Make ye then a mighty effort ... that for purity, immaculacy, refinement, and the preservation of health, they (Baha’is) shall be leaders in the vanguard of those who know.”(Selections from the Writings of Abdu'l-Baha, #129, p. 150) From a letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual believer, October 25, 1949, quoted in Lights of Guidance, we learn that “The Baha’is ... must guard against utterly depleting their forces and having breakdowns”. We are, then, encouraged to look after our health.
Although we are instructed to consult a competent physician when we are ill, there are four important aspects of preventive care that we can handle ourselves. You can remember them as RREN - Rest, Recreation, Exercise, and Nutrition.* Rest: Listen to your body for this one. You’ll soon be able to recognize its messages. Don’t wait for the collapse that will surely come if you ignore early signs. Even on a busy day, try to take at least fifteen minutes to lie on your back with your feet elevated. The blood-flow reversal does wonders! * Recreation: This is rest for the brain, so choose something that is a refreshing change from routine, a real re-creation. That could be anything from a good book to a round of golf. * Exercise: No, not the round of golf again. Exercise should be purposeful, disciplined, regular. Brisk walking is the original do-it-yourself exercise and heads the list. The cost is a pair of good walking shoes; the benefits are bestowed on the entire body. Two excellent forms of class exercises for seniors are tai chi and stretching. * Nutrition: Last but most important. If we are feeding our body impure food, it won’t run any better than an automobile with impure gasoline. The extra dollars we spend for food that is as natural as possible come back to us in reduced medical bills. Read labels and remember the current nutritional advice: cut down on meat and dairy, increase fruits, vegetables, and grains.
Receiving the gift of good health is well worth the effort required for change. In this passage from Baha’i World Faith, p. 176, ‘Abdu’l-Baha gives us further incentive: “If thou are desirous of health, wish thou health for serving the Kingdom. I hope thou mayest attain a perfect insight, an inflexible resolution, a complete health and spiritual and physical strength in order that thou mayest drink from the fountain of eternal life and be assisted by the spirit of divine confirmation.”
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TAI CHI FOR OLDER PEOPLE REDUCES
FALLS, MAY HELP MAINTAIN STRENGTH
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Submitted by Bill and Phoebe Anne Lemmon (Taken from the National Institute on Aging (NIA) website: www.nih.gov/nia. The NIA, part of the National Institutes of Health, leads the Federal effort conducting and supporting research on the aging process and the diseases and disabilities that accompany advancing age. The Institute's program focuses on biomedical, clinical, and social and behavioral research, and supports the Claude D. Pepper Older American Independence Centers at medical centres across the U.S., whose research is aimed at maintaining healthy function well into old age.)
Tai Chi, a martial arts form that enhances balance and body awareness through slow, graceful, and precise body movements, can significantly cut the risk of falls among older people and may be beneficial in maintaining gains made by people age 70 and older who undergo other types of balance and strength training. The news comes in two reports appearing in the May 1996 issue of the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.
The two studies are the first involving Tai Chi to be reported by scientists in a special frailty reduction program sponsored by the National Institute on Aging (NIA).
In the first study, Steven L. Wolf, Ph.D., and colleagues at the Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Ga., found that older people taking part in a 15-week Tai Chi program reduced their risk of falling by 47.5 percent. A second study, by Leslie Wolfson, M.D., and colleagues at the University of Connecticut Health Center, Farmington, found that several interventions to improve balance and strength among older people were effective. These improvements, particularly in strength, were preserved over a 6-month period while participants did Tai Chi exercises.
The projects are among several in the NIA's Frailty and Injuries:Cooperative Studies of Intervention Techniques, or FICSIT, initiative, launched in 1990 to improve physical function in old age.
Research from these and other FICSIT trials has demonstrated the benefits of strength training for older people and the value and cost-effectiveness of targeted, fall prevention programs for the elderly. It is estimated that each year falls are responsible for costs of over $12 billion in the U.S., and the costs due to physical frailty are much higher.
The news on Tai Chi is a reminder that relatively "low tech" approaches should not be overlooked in the search for ways to prevent disability and maintain physical performance in late life. "The FICSIT studies have shown that a range of techniques, from the most sophisticated medical interventions to more 'low tech' methods, can help older people avoid frailty and falling," says Chhanda Dutta, Ph.D., Director of Musculoskeletal Research in the NIA's Geriatrics Program. "We must make sure that we look at every approach, especially relatively inexpensive ones like Tai Chi," says Dutta. "People can do this at home and with friends once they have had the proper training...."