What the Blue Zones Teach Us About Longevity and Health
It turns out the commonalities among the “Blue Zones” are very similar to the dimensions described as “Deep Health.” Together they encompass health and wellness broadly and are interactive with one another.
Deep health is vast, encompassing, and boils down to a few dimensions
Hi all!
Today we’re talking about Deep Health and The Blue Zones. If you haven’t yet read the book “The Blue Zones” by Dan Buettner, totally fine! (also, there’s a docuseries still on Netflix about it if you want to check it out, I highly recommend it!).
The tl;dr is that Dan noticed that some populations were living longer than others, with some locales boasting a disproportionate amount of centenarians (people who are 100+).
Dan set out to figure out why.
Dan’s findings were that these locations (places he marked with blue ink on his map) shared a few commonalities that are repeatable, simple, and nearly all quantifiable.
It turns out the commonalities among the “Blue Zones” are very similar to the dimensions described as “Deep Health.” Together they encompass health and wellness broadly and are interactive with one another. Definitions range slightly, but commonalities between one source and the next remain.
Here’s a list:
Physical - feeling vigor and able to perform and function well
Mental - positive relationship with your thoughts
Emotional - positive relationship with your feelings
Relational - strong social bonds
Existential/Spiritual - a sense of purpose (or a connection to a higher purpose)
Financial - stability and financial independence
Environmental - the environment that surrounds you and the space you inhabit day-to-day
Of particular importance, says Dan Buettner, are moving well and often, eating well, and having a sense of purpose and community.
Physical, Relational, and Existential.
The last five Sunday’s posts, I’ve been working to communicate the most important Deep Health antecedents (the necessary pre-requisites). I believe these five below most closely precede the “Blue Zones” success stories:
10/13 -💧Hydration (Physical + others)
10/20 - 🏋️ Movement (Physical + others)
10/27 - 🔋 Recovery (Mental / Emotional / Physical)
11/03 - 🍎 Nutrition (Physical + others)
11/10 - 🧘♂️ Mindfulness (Mental / Emotional / Existential + others)
And those five dimensions in a nutshell define how the Wellth System works. We optimize on all of those dimensions for sustained outcomes throughout life.
Until next time -
Yours in Health,
Nolan
How to Remain Mindful During Holiday Season Madness
A strategy I find useful to combat the madness is to implement SYSTEMS or HABITS that minimize the impact these distractions have on my sanity.
Control the inputs to help influence the outcome
Early morning on Black Friday while sipping coffee and scrolling through my inbox, I came across a kind of hilarious and totally accurate phrase describing inboxes during this time of year (but I think it can apply to almost any place we consume content) … “the email chum bucket that is Black Friday.” 🦈
The visual I get from all of the information barraging our timelines, TVs, inboxes, and mailboxes is reminiscent of the debris that is thrown around in “Twister” - with social ads, TV commercials, promotional emails, and direct mailers all assaulting our senses nearly constantly.
Call it a chum bucket, a whirlwind, a dumpster fire, whatever - it’s all madness - and it seems incessant.
A strategy I find useful to combat the madness is to implement SYSTEMS or HABITS that minimize the impact these distractions have on my sanity.
A few suggestions you might want to try out yourself:
Social media apps - set app limits on your phone (here’s a helpful link from Apple’s site for iPhones). I set mine for 15 minutes a day across the entire category (not each app, that’s TOTAL).
TV Ads - implement a new HABIT of muting the TV when on commercial break
Email Inboxes - set up a “to review” folder in your email manager (Gmail or Outlook). As the distracting emails come in, select them and add them to this folder. Set aside ten minutes at the end of a week to blitz through them all and delete anything unnecessary. Bonus points if you “Unsubscribe” as well.
Physical Mail - set up a box next to your front door (maybe in a coat closet) that holds all of your recently received mail. The clearly urgent mail is read straight away, and the rest goes in the box. Same as the email inbox, set aside ten minutes at the end of a week to blitz through them all and shred or recycle anything unnecessary.
Setting up systems on the front end gives your brain a break from thinking it needs to handle all the noise RIGHT NOW.
Think about some systems or habits you can implement yourself to help transition the madness to mindfulness. You’ll benefit from greater peace, less anxiety, and a more focused approach on the CRITICAL FEW things that really matter day-to-day! That’s all for now. 🧘♂️
Until next time -
Yours in Health,
Nolan
Small Wins: Turbocharging Confidence
The small steps you take add up, increasing not only your performance but also your CONFIDENCE TO PERFORM.
The "Snowball Effect" - when little steps forward accumulate into something great
Yesterday Nat and I went skiing for the first time this winter, and it was a great reminder for me that small steps add up.
I can probably count on two hands the number of times Nat has been skiing, total. She’s getting the hang of it - but let’s be real - skiing can be scary! You’re on two thin, slick sticks flying down a snowy and icy decline.
At first blush, it’s not exactly the perfect definition of “Fun.” ⛷
But as we continue to crush the Greens at Breck, the cool thing I am noticing is that her ability and confidence is increasing in lock-step with the amount of reps we get in. Every run she gets a little bit more sure of herself. That scary decline is starting to turn into a thrill of getting better. Challenging herself is in itself the fun of it!
I consider other parts of our lives - especially our health + wellness - as a momentum play, too.
The small steps you take add up, increasing not only your performance but also your CONFIDENCE TO PERFORM. A daily step goal, a 5-min mobility routine post-workout, subbing in figs or dates instead of ice cream as a post-dinner snack.
Your small wins snowball into a major victory!
➡️ What small wins can you start to accumulate?
Until next time -
Yours in Health,
Nolan
P.S. - Don’t miss next week. We’re going to talk about that major victory, how to frame it up, + some tips and tricks to stay on track. 🏅