No matter what you’ve achieved in your life so far, chances are, you’ve much more to offer and your best is yet to be revealed. Life is a gratifying journey and ageing is a natural process. However, there is a science beyond the physical body – a deeper concurrent science of the soul, that can be learnt and followed to slow down the ageing process by re-awakening your energy, resilience, joy, love, spontaneity, wonder, curiosity and optimism. These constitute the perfect recipe for recouping, recovery and re-igniting youth.

Living by this recipe, you slow down ageing. Of course, you can’t stop the biological clock. But you can make it click slower. For many of us, the struggles of the first half of life suffocate our aspirations and joy for the second half. Life’s set-backs and adversities can take a tragic-toll. Beaten down by inevitable set-backs, tragedies and suffering, previously enthusiastic persons turn away from life’s higher promise and retreat into the debilitating clutches of comfort and compromise.

Hence, age becomes an exercise in shrinking rather growing, limiting rather than expanding, staving off rather than taking on and surviving rather than thriving. The result is fast decline and deterioration of what was once a fully-functioning human being. So, what symbolises life in the body of every being? The scriptures say that man is a miniature replica of God. Yatha pinde tatha brahman da, or, as the microcosm, so is the macrocosm – science is beginning to prove this at the physical level.

We carry the blueprint of life within ourselves. The thoughts, the philosophy of each person determines the path his/her life will follow. If we believe deeply that something will happen, it will definitely happen. Often, people say, “I knew that this would happen”. This is ‘sankalp shakti’ or will power. When we are convinced of something, our efforts bring results.

Each one of us carries the knowledge of our future. Illnesses, diseases, ageing and even death is ordained by our inner convictions. We read about the ageing process and decide that 60 or 65 years is the right age to retire. We decide that after 50 years we must take care of our health and be careful about the food we eat. On retirement, almost as if on cue, the body begins to slow down. What does this show? The projections of the mind devolve at the level of the body. So the process of reversal of ageing must begin at the mind  level, deep inside us. 

Science has proved that the ageing process can be slowed down or even reversed through changes in the thinking process. Every seven years, the body replaces its cells, except the brain cells. Each seed has the power to regenerate millions of cells. But these cells stop growing or regeneration after a particular point and the body begins to grow old. 

Think Young. Thinking has a positive and tremendous effect on our body. If an overweight person wishes to become slim, she will have to think slim. Carrying on with the ‘fat image’ will do no good. You have to think slim through all your senses. Create a slim, healthy image in your mind and the body will follow suit. Imagine yourself as being slim, healthy, young and beautiful and your body will begin to eat healthy, good food. Every cell in your body will follow this fresh instruction and you will begin to feel young, healthy and energetic.

To stay young, one must also eat healthy, natural, living foods. As we become more prosperous, we tend to eat processed or packaged food-often we need to read the label to tell us what we are eating. These foods are all dead matter. The life in them is replaced by preservatives and chemicals to make them look good and extend their shelf-life. This can be likened to the embalming of a dead body. The body can be made to look fresh for a long time with the help of chemicals. ‘Living diet’ is a light, vegetarian diet, including fruits, pulses and plenty of vegetables. These foods have life pulsating in them. Fruit eaten in the morning is a detoxifier. It cleanses the blood and keeps you young, healthy and energetic. Eliminate toxic thoughts. When Mirabai imagined that she was drinking nectar, even the poison she was given to drink, turned into nectar!

To stay young, keep the company of young people. They are alive and fresh. Children remain in the moment. How do we know we have become old? One direct indicator is when we talk more about our past. We are then mentally old. We are young and vibrant when we think about the future. Young people look more towards the future. The closer we get to death, the more we seem to long for childhood. So, bring your childhood enthusiasm and zest into the present moment, without thinking too much either of past or present. 

Live a more meaningful life – whatever your age, you’re never too old to laugh, play, learn and love. As you age in years, evolve towards higher levels of joy, letting go, and wisdom. Recapture your youth through your forward outlook, your inner language, your drive to thrive and your sense of humour.