As you have moved through your years in life, you have likely remained diligent in maintaining your physical fitness routines; you know how valuable exercise is in terms of how much better your body feels.
However, you’re also probably keenly aware that your overall well-being extends far beyond your physical wellness. Regular exercise and eating a healthy diet are just two parts of the larger picture; to enjoy true wellness as you age, think of your wellness holistically — focusing on your spiritual as well as your physical health. These two, along with social, intellectual, environmental, occupational, and emotional health, comprise what’s known as the seven dimensions of wellness.
The benefits of yoga, meditation, walking, and other exercises include helping you feel more in balance physically and spiritually, no matter your age. They’re simple exercises that, when done mindfully, can bring more peace and satisfaction to your daily life. They’re also great practices toward living a more Zen-inspired lifestyle in retirement and help to develop ways of meeting the inevitable changes of aging with greater wisdom, equanimity and flexibility.
What is Zen-inspired, and what does it mean to live a Zen-inspired lifestyle? It’s surprisingly simple: It means caring for ourselves so that we may better care for others and for the world around us. It means turning towards change and being curious and more able to accept and appreciate this moment. The following six practices can help ensure you’re caring for yourself as you age, both physically and spiritually.
- Yoga
Yoga is a form of mind-body exercise in which you move your body into various positions to become more fit and flexible, to improve your breathing, and to better understand and relax your mind. Yoga’s origins date back 5,000 years ago in India and Yoga has since been incorporated into Zen practices such as meditation. The word means to yoke or unite, referring to the union of body, mind, and spirit.
How yoga benefits you physically: In addition to improving your strength, balance, and flexibility, yoga can relieve back pain, ease arthritis symptoms, improve your heart health, and even help you sleep better, something experts say is crucial for older adults. These are just some of the many benefits of yoga.
Slow movements and deep breathing increase blood flow and warm up muscles, while holding a pose can build strength. You might have heard of yoga positions like Downward Dog, Cobra Pose or Warrior — but there are many more poses, all designed to stretch, strengthen, stabilize, and more.
How yoga benefits you spiritually: The goal of yoga is to achieve a state of inner balance by integrating your physical, mental, and spiritual self. Regular yoga practice creates mental clarity and calmness, increases body awareness, relieves chronic stress patterns, relaxes the mind, centers attention, and sharpens concentration.
2. Meditation
Whether you want to reduce tension and anxiety, become more aware of and intimate with the impermanence of the thinking mind, or enjoy more moments of being present in your everyday life, meditation is an ideal practice.
Spending even a few minutes in meditation can help enhance your ability to be present and compassionate with everything that is arising in your body and mind. When you meditate, you may be able to better acknowledge the information overload that builds up every day and contributes to your stress.
The first step in meditation is to become aware of the information overload, then strengthen your ability to watch your thoughts come and go. With this increased acceptance will come balance and composure, and you will be better able to make helpful and healthy decisions, not based on reactivity.
Anyone at any age can practice meditation. It’s simple and doesn’t cost anything. And you don’t need any special equipment. It is helpful to begin with this simple practice: find a comfortable place to sit with your eyes open or closed then simply breathe in while saying “breathe in” to yourself as you do. Then breathe out and say to yourself, “breathe out.” For the next 60 seconds to 20 minutes or so, your aim is to focus on this circular breath and the simple words in your head as much as possible. After you have practiced in this way for a while, you can experiment with other instructions for meditation or seek out a teacher who can help you develop.
How meditation benefits you physically: There are a number of suggested benefits of meditation. Though more research is needed, some studies suggest that meditation may help people manage symptoms of conditions such as asthma, chronic pain, heart disease, tension headaches, irritable bowel syndrome, and high blood pressure.
How meditation benefits you spiritually. You can use it to acknowledge and cope with stress by focusing on the ever-changing present moment. It can help you learn to be flexible with difficult emotions and sensations and to develop the equanimity, courage, gratitude and balance that can benefit your emotional well-being and your overall health
3. Walking
You have been walking nearly your whole life, which may make it easy to overlook its benefits. However, just 30 minutes every day can increase your cardiovascular fitness, strengthen bones, reduce excess body fat, and boost muscle power and endurance. Possibly the best part of walking is you already know how to do it, you don’t need expensive equipment or clothing, and it can be done literally anywhere. A pleasant walk in the woods — something the Japanese call forest bathing — offers both physical and mental health benefits.
How walking benefits you physically: You carry your own body weight when you walk, making it a superb weight-bearing exercise. Some of the benefits include a reduced risk of heart disease, stronger bones, improved balance, increased muscle strength and endurance, and reduced body fat. Walking can even counteract the effects of obesity-promoting genes. These reasons help explain why walking has been called the closest thing we have to a miracle drug.
How walking benefits you spiritually: Walking is a spiritual practice that yields so many dividends: heightened attention; letting go of accomplishing anything but being alive in this moment, increasing awareness of our connection with the earth and all beings.
4. Single-Leg Balance Exercises
Exercise can often feel like something you have to do. When viewed this way, it can feel as if you’re adding another chore to your day, and it takes the joy away. Instead of thinking about exercise as a task, think of exercise as a series of movements for your body.
Engaging in movement is your choice. You have the right to rest when you’re feeling tired. Listen to your body and make the choice that feels best for you. Find a movement that allows you to find your breath, feel your body, pay attention to your surroundings, and be aware of how you feel throughout the process. This will allow you to have a more positive and therapeutic experience. such as single limb exercises.
Also known as unilateral training, single limb exercises are extremely important, especially when it comes to lower-body strength. Daily activities require you to be able to move from one leg to the other. This may sound straightforward – after all, it’s something you as a human are designed to do, just like walking. However, it’s vital that you build and maintain strength, stability, and mobility as you age to ensure you’re able to function properly, safely, and pain-free.
How these exercises benefit you physically: There are a number of great single-leg exercises for older adults, but you’ll enjoy the same physical benefits no matter which you decide to try. They can improve your stability and balance to help reduce the risk of falls and strengthen stabilizing muscles around the ankles, knees, and hips. These exercises also keep each leg functioning and moving as equally as possible.
One example of a single-leg exercise is the single-leg step-up. With your right foot up on a step, be sure to focus on pulling yourself up through the right foot rather than pushing off of your back foot. Control your descent back down to the floor and repeat.
How these exercises benefit you spiritually: These types of exercises can be difficult when you first start out, and you may find your concentration flagging. The two big benefits of single-leg exercises include the opportunity to increase your focus and be able to study the habitual mind that can keep us from taking up new and beneficial activities.
5. Local and home-grown foods
Your family’s backyard garden may have provided many of the fruits and vegetables that ended up on your dinner plate. Fresh fruits and produce not only taste better but are better for you. That’s because those foods are picked and eaten at the peak of ripeness, while they’re still high in vitamins and nutrients.
How this type of diet benefits you physically: Local and home-grown foods are full of flavor and have more nutrients because the food has a shorter time between harvest and your table. Local and home-grown foods are healthier because they typically weren’t exposed to pesticides and chemicals. Eating local food also means safer food, because with fewer steps between you and your food’s source, the fewer the chances of contamination.
How this type of diet benefits you spiritually: When you eat local and home-grown foods, it’s easier to be mindful that food is sacred. A plant or animal gave up its own life to sustain yours. It can also be an opportunity to engage in the act of eating mindfully, which invites us to slow down and experience each bite, leading to a more satisfying and nourishing dining experience. By savoring flavors, acknowledging the food’s journey to our plate, and being grateful for the nourishment it provides, we feed not only our bodies but spirit.
6. A Zen-inspired lifestyle
Leading a happy, meaningful and content life as an older adult isn’t impossible if you succeed in cultivating a beginner’s mind” in which each moment is full of possibility. If you wish to live a Zen-inspired lifestyle, be curious about what is important to you. Listen to the wisdom of those you admire. Find meaningful ways of offering yourself and your skills to others. Try rising early, getting enough sleep, exercising regularly, doing things with intention, spending time in quiet contemplation, adopting a simpler way of living, and practicing gratitude.
What do we mean by a Zen-inspired lifestyle?:
- It’s a life where we’re encouraged to practice mindfulness, living each moment to the fullest, because the present moment is all we truly have.
- We’re encouraged and supported to engage with all the aspects of our life; whether they are difficult or easy situations, we strive to meet each moment with a mind that clearly observes.
- We’re encouraged to develop an awareness of ourselves and to respect ourselves in mind, body, and spirit.
- We’re encouraged to act in ways that benefit others — because once we are aware of how we are all connected, caring for others is no different than caring for ourselves.
- Lastly, we’re encouraged to develop balance, flexibility, and serenity within ourselves and to recognize things for what they are. This frees us to live every moment.
How a Zen lifestyle benefits you physically: Meditation and mindfulness practices have been shown to have a variety of positive effects, such as promoting feelings of calmness, improving sleep and immune function, reducing feelings of stress, and increasing self-awareness.
How a Zen lifestyle benefits you spiritually: Beyond its effects on the body, a Zen lifestyle is also known to offer a range of spiritual benefits. It can deepen spiritual connection, cultivate inner peace, promote self-awareness, deepen our wisdom of what it means to live this human life, enhance compassion, and foster a sense of interconnectedness.
These are just six practices to help you find and enhance your spiritual and physical balance as you age. There are many more ways to find physical and spiritual balance — the key is to find at least one practice that fulfills you and that you enjoy.
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Soon, there will be an entire Life Plan Community devoted to helping you experience the benefits of mindful aging, the joys of nature, environmental stewardship, and healthy life choices. Ensō Verde has been designed to extend the promise of Zen-inspired senior living to Greater Los Angeles. If you’re ready to learn more about Ensō Verde or how we can support your next steps toward a Zen-inspired retirement, contact us today.