Good health and longevity have been the subjects of many human studies. Elizabeth Blackburn the 2009 Nobel Prize winner in physiology, concluded that it was a balanced mind that helps us live longer. To be able to live for 100 years, one has to maintain a reasonable diet (25 percent), a balanced mind (50 percent), and other necessary conditions. What is a balanced mind, and how can we achieve it?
Psychological studies have revealed that when a person is furious, the hormone secreted proves fatal if injected into a mouse in the laboratory, so it is called a poisonous hormone. Modern scientists have found that 65-90 percent of diseases such as arteriosclerosis, hypertension, gastric ulcer, irregular menstruation, and such… are associated with stress and depression. These all affect your health and longevity.
Such diseases are known as Psychosomatic Diseases. If a person is restless, angry, or nervous, the level of the pressure hormone will stay high, and the immune system will be depressed and eventually destroyed. The cardiovascular system will become fragile due to long-term fatigue.
A person’s mind and body are inseparable. Our brains emit dopamine when we are happy, which is a beneficial hormone and makes us relaxed, staying in a good condition both mentally and physically. In this state, the human body’s various functions coordinate in harmony with each other and this state promotes health. How can you use this in your life to help you live longer?
Harmonious family life can help us achieve health and longevity both physically and mentally
A lady in Georgia is said to have lived to 132 years old. When she was 130, a news reporter asked her about the secret of her long life. She told him it was mainly due to having a harmonious family life.
After a 20-year-long study, two American psychologists found that human relationships rank first in the decisive factors that have an impact on longevity. It is more important than fruits, vegetables, frequent practice, and regular physical examinations. Human beings live in groups, and human relations are a factor all throughout your life.
Abraham Maslow wrote on the subject of needs in a 1943 paper titled A Theory of Human Motivation in Psychological Review. Becoming known as “Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs,” the review lists physiological needs, safety needs, love and belonging needs, esteem needs, and self-actualization needs in humans. These needs are ranked. All of them, except for physiological needs, are related to human relationships. Happiness results from the satisfaction of these needs, and happiness contributes to longevity.
Having goals inspires vitality and longevity and makes our brain cells stay healthy
New research has shown that specific goals in life are beneficial for health, because goals decide your mental status and therefore influence your physical status. A thinker’s cerebral blood vessels are frequently relaxed so the brain cells will not age early. Scientists have also found that an active brain always sends more glucose to the place in the brain where it is needed most. The use of glucose in an old man’s brain is lower than that in a young man’s brain when one is quiet, but when the brain is stimulated it is on the same level. So stimulating the brain helps to promote metabolism in the brain and postpone aging.
Helping others can cure a lot, and it wards off depression
Scientists have found out that giving others material help can reduce mortality by 42 percent, while giving others spiritual help can reduce it by 30 percent. Why does helping others have this effect? This is because being good and doing good brings you joy and pride, which are beyond description, reducing pressure hormones and promoting beneficial hormones.
Psychological epidemiologists said that cultivating a habit to help others can cure depression. Sowing goodness will harvest goodness and build good human relationships. Building good human relationships is the decisive factor in longevity.
It is like calling out in a valley — as you call out, you can hear the echo calling back to you. Bad human relationships frequently result from fighting, aggression, bad temper, ill manners, suspicion, and greed. To achieve a harmonious human relationship, one has to practice the following virtues: admiration, humor, smiling, respect, modesty, be easygoing, tolerant, show forgiveness, have empathy, sympathy, loyalty, and listen.
Remember that only good human relationships can make you joyful on a long-term basis and it is what you should aim for throughout your life.
