The secret of slowing down the ageing process is a clear understanding of the difference between the biological and chronological ages of our body. There are ‘young’ old people and ‘old’ young people! In the ‘Avtaar-Yoga’, the student is trained to forget how old he is in years and taught strictly to think of himself in biological terms. His entire psyche is reprogrammed. By detaching himself from the chronological age, he causes remarkable changes in his body, like better eyesight and hearing, stronger bones and muscles, becoming more supple, agile, energetic and strong.

Often, we hear people say, “I’m too old for this, I can’t climb three floors, I can’t even drive my car now!” etc. They are hypnotized by the figure of their chronological age. We also see patterns of behaviour that carry people faster into old age like not walking or exercising daily, which accelerate ageing. We also notice how people dress ‘according to their age’. A simple example is the tendency of people past fifty to begin dressing ‘old’. A woman may suddenly stop wearing high heels and resort to unflattering flat shoes; she may give up wearing red lipstick or blush; stop dying their hair; start wearing more conservative clothes!

It’s quite the opposite for men. They, on the other hand, often wear clownish outfits like bold colours, large stripes or checks and ridiculous wigs as if their age carried the privilege of looking absurd. In either case, their mode of dress is a way of identifying with a certain age group. Of course, we don’t want to go to the extreme of imitating teenagers, but there’s no reason why adults shouldn’t choose from the same fashions that suit each personality best, regardless of age. How refreshing it is to encounter a mature man or woman who has retained a sense of style or dress. Older people who have kept themselves supple can be immensely attractive, specially because they have the advantages over youth of experience, wit, knowledge, sparkling conversation and a sense of humour.

To think and behave ‘old’ contributes to physical ageing while youthful behaviour and identification with the younger generation can slow down the ageing process. The retention of childlike qualities as you age, were seen by Chinese philosophers as the most important part of spiritual growth, like keeping an open mind, talking to others, smiling at strangers, and having enthusiasm for new things throughout life’s journey. These are qualities to be cultivated as you age. Train yourself to think young and the entire tone of your physical and psychological well-being will improve.

In today’s rush-rush, go-go, stressful world, people age prematurely. Some gerontologists even say how a normal lifespan is shortened probably by 10 years due to smoking, by 15 years due to excessive drinking, and another 10 years due to overeating junk-food like pizzas, burgers and sodas. These kinds of food and drink hurt you. This was just the diet-part of ageing – what’s more important is exercise.

The human body is meant to move. This point is stressed in the disciplines of all three Yogas – Indian, Chinese and Tibetan. If elderly couples sit and watch TV all day, eat three ready-made meals (cooked by someone else), sleep most of the time, refuse to have family or friends to talk to, who don’t climb up and down the stairs, don’t go for walks, have lost interest in going out, given up on even driving a car – one can only pity such senior citizens because these are unfortunate couples.

On the other hand, elderly couples who have  joie de vivre, climb up and down stairs several times daily for morning walks, movies, plays and dance performances, book-readings, who interact with lots of people of all ages, from every strata of society, have a meaningful and productive life even at 85 or 90, despite health issues which come along with old age.

This brings me to the most important point of not going over and discussing your health issues with all and sundry – by saying, ” I have blood pressure, diabetes or weakness.” You are actually owning it and bringing it into your consciousness. Treat it with medicines and then forget about it – like it’s not there! Ignore it and chances are, it will go away because you are no longer bringing it into your consciousness.

Of course, all elderly people have good days and bad days, physically and mentally. But the challenge is to be optimistic by saying, ‘this too shall pass’, since everything is temporary and nothing is permanent. In fact, life itself is so temporary. From a higher consciousness, one entire lifetime is like one day in the school called Universe. Make the most of each day. Be happy and make others happy. Make your life meaningful. Every morning when you wake up, it’s the first day for the rest of your life. Have fun and live each day to the highest point of yourself. Just forget your age. Who cares if you are 70, 80 or 90? As youngsters say, ‘CHILL MARO YAAR’!