Successful Aging and the Thinking-Moving-Feeling Triad

by Brad

Early this month I attended a symposium sponsored by the Longevity Consortium at the Buck Institute for Research on Aging on “Environmental, Developmental, and Genetic Factors in Aging and Longevity.” There were lots of interesting presentations, especially on the search for genetic determinants for longevity, or what we call genome wide association studies (GWAS). It turns out that almost nothing survives rigorous statistical scrutiny at this level, suggesting that the genetic factors for long life are very complex and highly dependent on a host of environmental factors.

However, there was one talk on a very different subject that was of particular interest. Dr. Dilip Jeste from UCSD gave a lecture on the meaning of successful aging, and why almost no one asks patients directly to assess their views of their own aging experience.  Almost all definitions of successful aging (and again, many prefer the term “healthy aging”, although they are often used interchangeably) are based largely on the absence of age-associated physical disabilities, such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, neurodegenerative disease, etc. Dr. Jeste made a compelling case that self-assessment of one’s physical and psychological well-being at advanced age is critical for a better determination of what constitutes “successful aging.” Interesting concept, and one that may be more in sync with the yogic idea of the mind-body connection and mindfulness.

Larch Tree in Autumn by Philip Amdal

Intrigued by this, I went on to look at some of Dr. Jeste’s publications on these topics, and came across a very recent editorial published last year in BMJ titled, “Promoting successful aging through integrated care” (see here). I was struck the following statement:

“Another way of dealing with physical and mental health comorbidity may be through use of interventions that simultaneously increase physical activity, cognitive stimulation, and positive affect, thereby affecting all three components of the thinking-moving-feeling triad implicated in poor health related quality of life.”

As I read this I thought this is a pretty good definition of yoga, a “thinking-moving-feeling triad.” Maybe not an especially elegant summation, but pretty succinct. But what followed next took me back a bit:

An example of such an approach is the use of “exergames”—entertaining video exercise games. If such approaches were specifically adapted to the needs of older people, they could conceivably affect obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and depression simultaneously.”

Exergames? Not exactly sure what the meaning of this is (I confess to a horrible vision of a group of seniors playing bingo while clapping their hands to a Lady Gaga video), but if that's the best example they can come up with then something is wrong. Is yoga still met with such suspicion in the medical and academic community that such an obvious and natural connection is not made here? Is it going to take another generation for the current (and aging) yoga practitioners to retire before this can go more mainstream?

As I wrote in my last blog entry, one of the main reason I started practicing yoga at the age of 50 was that I was looking for a more age-appropriate exercise routine that would provide me with more flexibility, balance and core strength without exposing me to injuries. Sounds to me like yoga would be a much better fit here addressing all three of these goals (“thinking-moving-feeling triad”) in a much more integrated and natural fashion….