Prevent Disability With Mobility

All centenarians have one thing in common: they are all mobile. Mobility holds the key to longevity. Prevent disability with mobility. If you are physically mobile, you can maintain your bones, joints, muscles, and ligaments in their optimum conditions. If you are immobile, on the other hand, they start to decline and deteriorate. Their degeneration often leads to a host of health problems, including aches and pains, which only further aggravate the lack of motivation to move around. Always prevent disability with your mobility.

Falling is the most common cause of death among the elderly population. In fact, falling is the 2nd leading cause of death in women aged between 65 and 85, and the leading cause of death for most individuals over 85.

Falling, ironically enough, stems from the fear to fall, which is built upon the past experience of falling. The more worried you are about falling, the less you would want to be mobile, and the more prone you would become to falling -- and thus forming a vicious cycle. Immobility only leads to disability, which is often self-imposed. Only mobility can prevent disability.

Remember, falling is not a part of growing old; you fall because you have lost your muscle flexibility, which constitutes body balance, without which you may easily fall.

Therefore, to maintain muscle flexibility, especially in the bones and joints, you must move them and become mobile at any age. Of course, aches and pain can deter you from moving in the first place. Again, it is a myth that arthritis and rheumatism come with age. The truth of the matter is that there are many individuals who have never experienced major debilitating aches and pains throughout their lives. The possible explanation is that they have lived a healthy lifestyle. Hence, it is never too late to mend your ways of living. Given that pain is mainly due to inflammation, always eat an anti-inflammatory diet, which is essentially low in animal fat with plenty of fruits and vegetables. Remember, loading up on junk foods, high-fat meats, sugar and fast foods will increase inflammation in your body. An anti-inflammatory diet eliminates all high-sugar foods, such as sodas, soft drinks, pastries, pre-sweetened cereals and candies, from the diet.

Good body balance can be impaired, due to circulatory problems. Again, diet plays a pivotal role. What is good for the heart is also good for the brain, which monitors your body balance. In addition, strengthen your inactive muscles that may cause body balance problems, contributing to falls. Maintaining good posture and good body balance can avoid falls, thereby preventing disability.

Lack of concentration may cause you to fall. You can overcome this by training your mind to become more focused through guided meditation. Also, Qi Gong, the 3000-year-old anti-aging exercise from China, not only promotes muscle flexibility, body balance, and clarity of the mind through enhanced internal life energy, but also is instrumental in reversing bone loss due to osteoporosis.

Do not conserve your mobility out of fear of falling; instead, fully utilize your mobility to your advantage. Over-caution only constricts your muscles, making them more tense and inflexible, and thus impairing your body balance. Prevent disability with mobility. To live long, be mobile!


Copyright (c) 2010 Stephen Lau