By Karen Cay

Senior's Scene

Aging Really Is a State of Mind

Feb 15, 2021 | 3:16 PM

Earlier this week, I was scrolling through my Facebook, as us OLD people do – and there was a post about 81 year old Erika Rischko from Germany – CRUSHING the TikTok fitness challenges.

This woman planks while weights – lots of weights are placed on her back. This isn’t for 30 seconds – it is for a long time. Likewise she does wall squats with weights added on. She works out at least twice a day and if you want to see her in action, her tiktok is @erikarischko and her Instagram is erikarischko.

Increasingly we see the stories of the 90+ year old marathon runner, swimmer, skater. We see very senior seniors youthful and sharp and at the top of their game having more fun than they were allowed to in the comparative drudgery of earning a living.

The one thing most of these folks have in common is that they were not always living this way – and many came to athletics, fashion, intellectual pursuits at my age – mid 50s.

Court proceedings

Drugs and weapons bust in Stanley Mission, results in two year sentence

18h ago

health care

La Loche recipient of new portable blood analyzer, printer kit

19h ago

Crime

Dangerous driving report at Red Wing, leads to arrest of man with gun

23h ago

With a good portion of my gene pool coming from Scandinavian waters – where people live FOREVER and the other half of my gene pool a family that drops pretty suddenly at a young age from heart issues – I have for a few years now been super cognizant of the fact that I could either live forever ( and all that implies) or drop any day now. (Hopefully I make it past the publishing of this column).

Either way – it is critical for me to keep moving and take care of my ticker and by doing so take care of my muscles, joints, circulatory and nervous system and brain.

If my genetics leans strongly to the Scandinavian – which seems to be the trend anyway – then I could live to see many many many more years and so I need to be sure I have a body that can allow me to live those years well – and not crumpled up in a home. I need to do what I can to be sure I have a clear mind and that I will always know what it is to keep learning.

In my town of Kinistino, we have a lot of seniors that live well into their 80s and 90s and by living well – I mean they live to be 90 plus years AND they live in their own homes, still wash their own windows, clean their own houses, tend their own yards and gardens and go for walks and visit and so on.

So in our 50s … it is time to decide what kind of life we will have as we age, because the decisions we make at this stage of our life will irreversibly decide how the rest of our years will play out.

And yes – there are so many diseases and afflictions out there – but a good attitude and healthy lifestyles can help prevent or stave off many of these. According to the Alzheimer’s Research and Prevention Foundation, regular physical exercise can reduce your risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease by up to 50 percent. What’s more, exercise can also slow further deterioration in those who have already started to develop cognitive problems.

And I can almost hear you say, “Well she doesn’t know about my arthritis or how I hurt my back in 1972”. Yes I do know about that. That is another of the decisions we have to make. We have so many amazing chiropractors, massage therapists, physiotherapists, kinesiologists and so on to help us recover even from old injuries. It is known now the mechanical model of the human body is not accurate. Human bodies are designed to recover. When we break a leg we are not put down like a poor horse. We expect that leg to heal. So take care of those old injuries and then start the stretches and the movement even if you have to start with 30 seconds at a time and gradually work up to a minute. Because after 40 what time you don’t spend working to make yourself better – you are going back the other way.

So go for a walk, go to the gym, find a new hobby – take a University class at the University of Regina https://www.uregina.ca/cce/personal-enrichment/ and continuing education at the University of Saskatchewan https://continuing.usask.ca/ . Many are free or very affordable.

In this you will find new friends – maybe young friends – and this will keep you young.

Don’t look forward to retiring so that you can sleep in every day and just do nothing. There are MANY years for you hopefully after retirement. Plan now. Start the work NOW so that when those years come – you are ready to embrace that phase of your life with excitement, challenge and vigor.

For a great few minutes of information check out “What if age is just a state of mind? | Bruce Grierson | TEDxPSU”

Karen Cay is the Community Editor for paNOW, northeastNOW, larongeNOW, meadowlakeNOW and battlefordsNOW with the Jim Pattison Broadcast Group.

This column is sponsored by MacKenzie Funeral Chapel and Crematorium – Compassionate care and impeccable service.

130 9th St. E, Prince Albert, SK

Phone: (306) 763-8488

https://mackenziechapel.ca/