Living Long and Living Well

I watched a repeat of "Oprah" show about Blue Zones, places that have a large population of centenarians - people living into their 100s. I was so inspired to live better, to live healthfully.

The Blue Zones are towns in the countries of Costa Rica, Italy, Japan, and US. The one US city was Loma Linda, CA where there is a large population of Seventh Day Adventists who are committed to eating healthy vegan diets.



I was a little surprised that Loma Linda had so many active seniors. The air quality is usually bad there. Well, the air quality is horrible in Southern California period. I know that there diet and there spiritual practices contributed greatly to their quality of life. I'm in prayer on how to implement life-giving habits into my life. I want these behaviors to become who I am, to define me.



Here is a list of what persons living in Blue Zones had in common:
1. eating a plant based diet (organic, home grown)
2. physical activity daily
3. stress free work
4. social support - spending time with family and friends
5. rituals & sacred time
6. purpose for living

This way of being can be achieved. It is possible. I plan to examine each one on the list and see what I'm currently doing well and where I need to make improvements.

Photo Credit: Photo by Phillie Casablanca on Flickr.