I have been doing the massage related channel for over 10 years. Now that I became half-century “young” I am more interested in anti-aging topics myself. I know it’s the interest of many other people too. But what is anti-aging? I’ve been thinking about it. Let me explain my definition of anti-aging and how it relates to self-massage and couples massage.
For me, anti-aging is not just about looking younger by stretching and erasing wrinkles to a degree that you lose expression. I think wrinkles tell the history of the person and the wrinkles from the expressions are beautiful. For me anti-aging is more of the combination of the beauty from the inside and outside, or the balance between mind, body, and spirit.
My friend beautifully said Accept-aging is better than Anti-aging and I totally agree. Spiritually speaking, I think the first step is to accept your age, appreciate your age, love your age, love who you are at your age, and embrace all the experiences and history that come with your age.
Physically speaking, I think the internal anti-aging is having a good flow of things inside of your body such as bodily fluids which make up 60-70% of your body. The major ones are the blood flow which delivers nutrients to all the cells and lymph movement so your body can get rid of the waste from the tissues.
Another important flow is digestion. Whatever you put in your mouth will be assimilated into your body and the waste from the food must be eliminated.
Besides glowing and feeling a bit younger as a reflection of your internal health, one aspect of external anti-aging is having a pain-free body. When you have a pain in your body parts or joints, you may be stressed out, or you cannot sleep well, or you may be grouchy and edgy. When you don’t have any pain in your body, you’ll be peaceful. I think pain is actually good sometimes because your body is telling you something so you can do something about it. Also, you will realize you’ve been taking it for granted and you will find a new appreciation for a functional body.
Massage will help these physical aspects of anti-aging. For example, it moves the bodily fluids to eliminate toxins and loosen muscles. Acupressure will help balance the energy flow and internal flow. Treating trigger points will help alleviate the physical pain.
Emotionally speaking, I believe it all starts with self-love. Self-massage is one way to give yourself the love and care your body needs. And face massage will help you look your best and boost your confidence.
If you have a partner, having a happy relationship is a pathway to anti-aging. Did you know that you can express your love through massage especially if your partner’s love language is physical touch, meaning they feel loved when they are physically touched. The same friend said, “Couples Massage doesn’t just massage each other’s body but it also massages each other’s heart.” It is so beautifully said, I am totally stealing it. Well, I stole it. Anyway, massaging your partner is a powerful way to connect deeply through physical touch.
So really, my take on anti-aging is taking a good care of your mind, body and spirit and improve the overall quality of life at the individual level and with a partner if you have one. And I continue to use massage as a mean to achieve it.
If you feel or look one year younger than your age or if you feel 1% better than yesterday, I think you already accomplished anti-aging. Yes, it is very subjective and you get to say it. Who cares what other people think.
So what is your definition of anti-aging? Please let me know in the comment below.
Thanks for watching. I’ll see you back next week. Make it a great week. Feel free to comment below. And please don’t forget to subscribe. Click on the bell so you will be notified when my video is up and out.
Massage Monday #517 What is Anti-Aging? My Definition of Anti-Aging. http://bit.ly/mm-517