Mindfulness as a Key Component in Stress Reduction and Longevity

#6

I’ve been doing breathing meditation since 2014 (20min daily non-negotiable).
I consider it an essential tool to understand how my mind works. (Jon Kabat Zinn calls it “exercise for the mind-muscle”)
I learned to become an observer of continuous mindwandering in Past § Future and discover how hard it is to be/stay in the Moment, even for a short amount of time.
The benefit is that it gives me more options to not get carried away by thoughts (mostly negative) in everyday life.

You can ask Chatgpt or Bard(Google) for impacts on Longevity and get:
Meditation has been associated with various health benefits, and while it might not directly guarantee longevity, it can contribute to overall well-being, potentially impacting factors that influence health and lifespan. Here are some ways in which meditation may contribute to improved health and, indirectly, longevity:

Stress Reduction: Meditation is well-known for its stress-reducing effects. Chronic stress has been linked to various health issues, including cardiovascular diseases, immune system suppression, and inflammation. By promoting relaxation and reducing stress levels, meditation may indirectly support better health and potentially contribute to longevity.

Inflammation Management: Chronic inflammation is a factor associated with aging and age-related diseases. Some studies suggest that meditation practices may have anti-inflammatory effects, helping to regulate the body’s inflammatory response and potentially mitigating the impact of inflammation on overall health.

Blood Pressure Regulation: Meditation has been linked to improvements in blood pressure regulation. High blood pressure is a risk factor for cardiovascular diseases, and by promoting relaxation and reducing stress, meditation may contribute to maintaining healthy blood pressure levels.

Improved Mental Health: Meditation has been shown to have positive effects on mental health, including reducing symptoms of anxiety and depression. Mental health is closely linked to physical health, and maintaining good mental health can positively impact overall well-being and potentially contribute to a longer, healthier life.

Enhanced Immune Function: Some research suggests that meditation practices may have a positive impact on immune function. A well-functioning immune system is crucial for fighting off infections and preventing illness, which can indirectly contribute to a longer and healthier life.

Better Sleep Quality: Meditation has been associated with improvements in sleep quality. Quality sleep is essential for overall health, and chronic sleep disturbances have been linked to various health issues. By promoting relaxation, meditation may contribute to better sleep patterns.

Mindful Eating: Some meditation practices, such as mindfulness meditation, encourage awareness and mindful eating. Being more conscious of food choices and eating habits may lead to healthier dietary choices, which can positively influence overall health.

Telomere Maintenance: Telomeres are protective caps at the ends of chromosomes, and their length is associated with aging. While more research is needed, some studies suggest that meditation and stress reduction practices may have a positive impact on telomere length maintenance.

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#7

Thank you for sharing your insights! Tools like Healthy Minds Program app can indeed be very helpful in guiding and enhancing meditation practices.

I’d like to add another dimension to meditation routine: the use of binaural beats with an application like Brainwave. Binaural beats are a form of soundwave therapy. They work by playing two slightly different frequencies in each ear. The brain perceives a third tone based on the mathematical difference between these two frequencies. For example, if a 300 Hz tone is played in one ear and a 310 Hz tone in the other, the brain will process a 10 Hz tone.

The scientific background of binaural beats lies in the brain’s response to these frequencies. Different frequencies are associated with different states of brain activity. For instance, Delta waves (1-4 Hz) are linked with deep sleep, Theta waves (4-8 Hz) with meditation and light sleep, Alpha waves (8-14 Hz) for relaxed but alert states, Beta waves (14-30 Hz) for active thinking and concentration, and Gamma waves (30-42 Hz) for peak concentration and high levels of cognitive functioning.

By using binaural beats, you can potentially guide your brain into a desired state. For example, if you want to deepen your meditation, you might use Theta wave binaural beats to help your brain shift into a more meditative state.

Best regards and happy meditating!

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The Real Life Diet of Longevity Doctor Mark Hyman, Who Developed a Six-Pack in His 60s (GQ)
The Real Life Diet of Longevity Doctor Mark Hyman, Who Developed a Six-Pack in His 60s (GQ)
#8

Thank you for recommendation, @Christoph . I tried that app, and this is really good. Theory/practice/theory practice cycle is really excellent.

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#9

I’m interested in this for sleep. Do you use a sleep monitor? Have you noticed any difference in your sleep from using the Brainwave App?

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#10

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The lesson here for me is to do the work. I need to remake myself into a person who naturally has higher HRV. I’m working on it.

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#11

I’ve had my Polar H10 for about 10 days and wear it at night for a sleep monitor. I use the EliteHRV app to do the Morning Readiness test. My score on that seems to bounce all over the place as well as the HRV rate itself. For HRV it says baseline 57, yesterday 88 and today 73. My sleep score (Android as Sleep app) have been consistently very good, not much variation. I’m still trying to get it all figured out.
I don’t have any of the factors on your Table 2 above.

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#12

Sounds like you are good on this pillar of health. Nice work.

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#13

Basically, all the measuring is just to get a baseline. I think that my health is pretty good (at least it feels that way) but who am I comparing myself to? The American public (big deal) or the world at large (some good, some bad). When I do the Levine Phenotype Blood calculator and come up with a score that says 10 years younger, they must be using some population to come up with what they think the average measures for your chronological age would be (and then comparing your actual blood levels to that). What is that population and how healthy would you consider them to be? If my Phenotypic age is 10 years younger than the average 70 year old Japanese, I might feel pretty good.
In the end, I just want a comprehensive set or repeatable, scorable tests that will tell me if a healthy person starts taking rapamycin, will they become even more healthy?

#14

Hi. Yes I am using apple watch - but I am not trusting so much to the analysis REM/Deep sleep. According to subjective perception, I am sleeping better after dedicated program, inducing low-delta waves. But it can be also conformational bias.

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#15

Thanks! I’ve been using The Polar H10 as a sleep monitor(Android as Sleep app) for a couple of weeks and my scores have been pretty good but I’m curious, so I think I’ll try it.

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#16

This will make you mindful.

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#17

Its difficult to remember how I was when I was 39 (25 years earlier), but I am pretty certain I feel a lot better now than when I was 40.

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#18

For my 40th birthday I climbed 5 Colorado 14ers over 2 days including an unroped free solo of Crestone Needle’s 4th class finish. I don’t feel that good any more.

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#19

See here for part of the answer from Levine:

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#20

It seems like a lot of people here are coming out 10 years younger on Levine.

I’m afraid for the health of those that are coming out 10 years older that balance us out!

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#21

Thanks @Neo , it does seem like the updated Levine calculator is more realistic, although still can’t feel too great when comparing your health to the US or UK average (I went from 10 to 8 years younger).
My HRV and sleep scores have been good but strangely my HRV went way down for a couple of days after getting my DexaScan - must have been the X-rays? Also felt weird the next day.

#22

:open_mouth: I did not think DEXA would have such an effect

Could it have been something else - tense about the process or results or something? Or something totally unrelated?

#23

Of course I can’t be sure, but with nothing else unusual, I felt distinctly mentally and physically off, just for the next day and when I later looked at my HRV it showed a big drop during that same time and then recovered. (who knows what it was?)

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#24

“It’s important to stand still sometimes. Think of it as a little rest in the long journey of your life. This is your harbor. And your boat is just dropping anchor here for a little while. And after you’re well rested, you can set sail again.”

— Satoshi Yagisawa, Days at the Morisaki Bookshop

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#25

I’ve been meaning to get into meditation for a while but I could never justify it until something Aubrey de Grey said made me think meditation is one of the top longevity practices we can implement right now:
"There’s one thing that almost all centenarians have in common which is, nothing bothers them.

It’s not necessarily that they’ve had particularly stress free lives. The thing is when they encounter a stressful situation they cope with it really well and their (stress) hormone levels don’t get really elevated."

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