When people who have been indulging a life-damaging habit
begin meditatin g, they often spontaneously lose their desire for the toxic
experience. Wh en someone who has relinquished a toxic habi t complains
that they have started it up again, the first question we ask is “Are you still
meditating?” Invariably the an swer is no, often because their life was
becoming so dynamic, their meditation time became a lower priority . Regularly accessing the quiet, expanded state of awareness through
meditation is an essential component of releasing noxious habits. Other approach es that can be useful in filling the space left by the
habitual behavior include starting an exercise program, taking classes in a
subject that is fascinating to yo u, and dedicating yourself to h ealing your
relationships. It is sad how often a toxic behavior that compensates for a
lack of love actually reduces the likelihood of finding genuine love. It can
be very helpful to join support groups of people who have gone or are going
through the transformation you are seeking. Associate with people who
support your healthy choices and minimize your exposure to those lookingto reinfo rce their toxic habits by disparaging your ef forts to change your
life. The elimination of toxins awakens 
the capacity for r enewal. W A TER—NA TURE’S PURIFIER
A ve ry s imple b ut powerful purification technique is to boost your intake of
water . The human body is ap proximately three-fourths water and most
biochemical reactions operate best within a narrow window of
concentration. S everal scientific  studies have found that our sensitivity to
thirst diminishes as we age, so we become at risk for developing subtle
levels o f dehydration of which we may not be consciously aware. Most
people d o not drink enough wa ter , which can lead to a host of  symptoms. Headaches, constipation, dry skin, fatigue, and indigestion may actually
reflect s ubtle de hydration. Some  physicians have gone as far as to suggest
that man y comm on health concerns, including high blood pressure, asthma,
and chronic pain have their origins in dehydration. Assuming that you do not have kidney or liver problems, we recommend
getting into the habit of drin king water throughout the day . Y ou can
calculate the recommended nu mber of ounces of daily water intake by
dividing your weight in pounds by two. For exam ple, if you weigh 160 p ounds, your daily water intake should be
80 ounces or 10 cups per day . Most bottled water comes in half-liter
containers, equi valent to just ov er two cups, so this would mean drinking
five bott les per day . Soda bever ages, tea, and cof fee do not count, as theircaf feine content has a diuretic ef fect. Similarly , alcohol also causes water
loss and does n ot contribute to rehydration. If you are active in sports,
taking d iuretics, or live in a hot, dry climate, increase your dai ly intake by
another 10 to 15  percent. Favor water -rich fruits and vegetables including
cantaloupe, grapefruit, peaches, watermelon, asparagus, peppers, carrots,
and mushrooms. Minimize your intake of artificially sweetened beverages. When yo u are drinking enough water you will feel the need to empty your
bladder about every two hours. Many people who follow this water routine report that they more easily
lose unw anted weight and have more ener gy and less chronic aches and
pains. Drinking plenty of fresh,  pure water is one of the simplest and least
expensive ways to reverse the aging process. ELIMINA TE T OXIC FOODS
Freshly grown and lovingly prepared foods are richest in Prana, or life
ener gy . Foods that have been s itting around for months in a can on your
shelf are less lik ely to nourish y our body , mind, and spirit. Start a vegetable
garden i n your backyard and grow fresh herbs and spices to en hance your
meals. Shop at your local farmer ’ s markets and take the time to prepare
delicious meals,  applying the pr inciples explored in Chapter 3. If you find
yourself regularly eating frozen, canned, microwaved, or highly processed
foods, shift your time priorities to make nourishing yourself hig her on your
list. Make the preparation of m eals a family or community ex perience so
you can enjoy the process as well as the product. There is increasing evidence th at the pesticides and artificial fertilizers
used in modern agriculture are taking their toll on our he alth. These
synthetic chemi cals are finding their way into our air and water supply . They have been implicated as po ssibly contributing to a number of dif ferent
cancers, particularly of the reproductive system.Studies have shown that it takes  diligent washing to remove the  pesticide
residues that are present on fru its and vegetables. For these reasons, we
encourage you to favor or ganically grown foods. Although they cost more,
you can  feel confident that you and your family are not consuming
unnecessary tox ins along with y our meals. Y ou will also know that you are
doing your share to reduce the accumulation of toxins in your environment. RELEASE T OXIC EMOTIONS
Although we are all aware of the health-depleting ef fec ts of toxic
substances and toxic foods, to xic emotions are often the m ost harmful
accelerators of the aging process. Whenever you carry resentment, hostility ,
regret, o r grieva nces in your he art, your vitality is eroded. T ry  this simple
practice:
Find a quiet place, sit comfortably , and close your eyes. Now take a few minutes to settle your mind with the So Hum
meditation. After a little while, bring your attention into your body and scan it for
any area of tension or resistance. If you identify a place of congestion,
have the intention to let it go. Bring your attention into your heart and acknowledge all the things for
which you feel grateful. Now listen to your heart and ask yourself the question, “What am I
carrying with me from the past that is no longer serving me well in the
present?”
If you identify any encumbrances in your heart, have the intention to
release them now . Let go of any resentments, grievances, or regrets
that you find.As you release these toxic emotions, see if you can find the gift that
this toxic emotion was hiding. For example, if you felt pain as a result
of someone’ s behavior , the gift may be that you learned more self-
reliance. Make the commitment to regularly acknowledge gratitude and
relinquish all grievances from your heart. Encumbering yo ur heart with toxic emotions prevents you from fully
experiencing the magic, mystery , and joy that is available to you right now . Make th e comm itment to release the resentments, regrets, and grievances
that are causing more harm to you than anyone else. The process of releasing emoti onal toxins is similar to that for releasing
physical ones. Y ou must first have a clear intention that you wan t to replace
life-depleting emotions with life-enhancing ones. The metabolism of regret
and resentment into compassion and for giveness can dramatically awaken
your body , mind, and spirit to your primordial vital ener gy . W rite about the history that cre ated the toxic emotion, describing both
what ha ppened and how you fe el as a result of the situation. S tudies have
shown that journaling about upsetting emotional experiences can improve
your im mune function, as well as help you gain clarity and in sight. In his
book Nonviolent Communication, psychologist Ma rshall Rosenber g teaches
an emot ional vocabulary that avoids victimization. Steer clear from words
like abandoned, abused, neglected, and mistreated; instead, describe the
actual fe elings of anger , sadness, loneliness, and fear that the circumstance
evoked. Once yo u have written about the circumstances leading to the toxic
emotions, perform some physic al ritual with the intention of releasing the
hold these feeling have on your soul. Do some deep breathing, get a
massage, pound  a pillow , dance with abandon, or go for a long run until
your body has released the tension that is stored with the emotion. Then,
open your heart to feelings that generate the age-reversing emotions offor giveness, har mony , laughter ,  and love rather than the entropy evoking
ones of anguish, resentment, regret, and despair . T oxic emotions ar e often the most harmful accelerators
of the aging pr ocess. Commit to r eleasing them
fr om your heart and mind. T ransform or Release T oxic Relationships
Y ou may , at times, find yourself in relationships that are laced with conflict. Although you may enjoy the  passion and drama these relationships
generate, over time, they will inevitably make you feel older and depleted. It is esse ntial tha t you transform toxic relationships into nourish ing ones. If
you acce pt that reality is a selec tive act of perception and interp retation, the
most em powering way to transform a relationship is to change the way you
view the other person. Every re lationship is a mirror th at can show you some aspect of yourself. When you are engaged in conflict, ask yourself, “What is this situation
telling me about my own nature?” T ry this simple exercise that can be
helpful in revealing the hidden meaning in a dif ficult relationship. W rite down as m any traits as you can think of that describe th e person
with whom you are having problems. Now loo k again  at each descrip tive word and see which ones create an
emotional char g e in you. For example, you may have des cribed yourmanager as:
As you review your list, you may see traits that r eally irritate you:
controlling, needy , unappreciative, and stubborn. Now look at y ourself. Are
these words that others might  use to describe you? Do you have the
tendency to reflect these traits? Have you expressed these qua lities in the
past? M ore often than not, the traits that bother you the most in another
person a re the ones you try ha rdest to deny in yourself. As you embrace
these da rker qua lities in your ow n heart, you may find yourself less inclined
to judge someone else for expressing them. As you relinquish your
judgment and interpretation, yo u may open to the possibility that there are
other qu alities t hat may be attr active in the person, which yo u have not
allowed yourself to see. MEETING YOUR NEEDS
Relationships thrive when both  parties feel their needs are being met and
struggle when they are not. Put very simply: Y ou feel good when your
needs ar e being met and bad when they are not. Not getting you r needs met
leads to stress, t oxic emotions, and toxic relationships. Learning to express
your nee ds and emotions in a healthy way fosters nourishing r elationships
and reverses aging. As i nfants, we e xpect our caregivers to fulfill our needs, even if we don’ t
know what they are. W e wail a few times and anticipate Mother scrambling
to determ ine if we are hungry , cold, tired, bored, or just want to be held. W e
carry these same desires into ad ulthood and become hurt, frustrated, angry ,
or depressed when our lovers, friends, or associates are unable to
immediately figure out what we need and give it to us. Thi s is not anapproach that is likely to be suc cessful. Let’ s explore a more ef fective way
to express your needs and emotions. THE DIALOGUE OF NEEDS
The humanistic psychologist Abraham Maslow described five basic needs
that drive us all. First, we have basic physiological needs, such as food,
water , and protection against extreme heat or cold. Once these needs are
met we are motivated by the n eed for safety and security . W e  all want to
feel prot ected fr om physical and emotional harm. The third need is social—
the n eed for com munity , friendship, love, and belonging. As the se needs are
met we have the need for self-esteem. At this level, achievement, respect,
recognition, and status are sought. The final need is to find meaning,
beauty , and wisdom in life. Mas low called this final step self-ac tualization. In Eastern traditions this is the state of enlightenment. Self-actualized people are acce pting, spontaneous, natural, an d simple. They are dedicated to a life of meaning and creativity . They are as
comfortable alone as they are i n intimate personal relationships. They are
playful and laugh easily . They know how to meet their needs. In his book Nonviolent Communication, Marshall Rosenb er g describes a
simple process to enhance the ch ances of getting your needs met. Whenever
your needs are not met and you become upset, first ask yourself , “What am
I observing?” Rather than saying  to the other person “Y ou are al ways late to
every date,” say “W e agreed to meet at noon and you did not arrive until
12:30 P .M.” Separate your judgments and evaluation from your
observations and you will be less likely to trigger defensiveness. The second step is to identify what you are feeling. Develop a rich
emotional vocabulary that does  not make you a victim. A void words that
require s omeone else to be there  for you to experience your emotions, such
as ig nored, rejected, neglected, abandoned, or abused. Y ou are empowered
when yo u say you feel alarmed, annoyed, exhausted, frightened, lonely ,outraged, or sad, but you give away your power when you use the
vocabulary of the victim. The thir d step is to determine w hat you actually need from the situation. If you cannot be clear on what your needs are, it’ s very unlikely that the
other person is in a better position to figure it out. The four th step is to formulate a  specific request. Ask for what you need
as specifically as possible. Rather than demanding “Y ou need to spend more
time wi th me or else!,” rephrase it in the form of a request: “Are you
willing t o come home an hour e arly from work W ednesday afternoon so we
can take  a walk together?” Peo ple are much more likely to respond to a
request than a demand. W e would add a fifth step to Dr . Rosenber g’ s original four . Whether your
request is met o r not, ask yours elf, what is the gift in this situation? What
can you learn from this circumstance about yourself and life? What is the
lesson that can r aise you to a higher level of awareness? Find th e gift, even
if it is not the one you originally anticipated. Make th e comm itment to communicate your needs consciously , and you
will waste a lot less ener gy in conflict. Accept your dif ferences as a cause of
celebration, rather than finding it necessary to make the other person wrong. Because we believe that cultivating loving relationships is such an
important component of reversi ng the aging process, we devote an entire
step to it in Chapter 10. Accept your differ ences as a cause of celebration. Release T oxic W ork
Most people spend a good portion of their life on the job. So ideally work
should af ford the opportunity  to express your creativity , to interact
meaningfully wi th your coworkers, and to provide the material s ecurity youseek. Un fortunately , many peop le find their workplace to be a source of
stress ra ther than fulfillment, and consequently , aging is accelerated rather
than reversed. The world would be a better place if we all could do what made us
happy , while expressing our unique talents in service to others and
ourselves. Acco rding to A yurveda, this is the state of living in dharma, or
fulfilling your purpose in life. Even if you are not able to earn a living
doing exactly what you like doing best, see if you can bring some aliveness
to your workplace. T ry connecting more openly with your coworkers so your work
environment is emotionally healthier . Observe your environment and see if you can improve the sounds,
sights, or smells that surround you. Look for opportunities to align your work with your values, needs, and
beliefs. Life is precious and you have the right to perform work that is
meaningful. A test to see if you  are in your dharma is to notic e how often
you look at the time. If your in ner dialogue tells you that time is creeping
by very slowly and you cannot w ait to get of f work, you are probably not in
a positio n that is fully expressin g your purpose in life. If, on the  other hand,
you find that tim e flies while y ou are engaged, it is a good clue that this
work is the type that can help y ou grow younger . Listen to the  signals that
your body and mind are commu nicating and commit to spending your day
creating greater fulfillment for you and those in your life. Reversing the Appearance of Aging
The field of ener gy , information, and intelligence commonly known as the
skin is your la r gest and most adaptable or gan. As the bou ndary zonebetween your inner and outer w orlds, the skin protects your tissues, cells,
and mo lecules from the onslaught of microor ganisms, temperature
extremes, ultraviolet and infrared radiation, and chemical pollutants present
in yo ur e nvironment. It constant ly monitors stimuli from your s urroundings
through its innumerable touch, temperature, and pain receptors , and sends
this information  to your brain on a moment-to-moment basis. Y our soft
pliant sk in has the remarkable ability to dif ferentiate itself into the long
strands of your hair or your flat hard nails by rearranging its collagen
molecules. It is the site of vita min D activation, crucial for maintaining
strong b ones. The skin contains sweat glands, oil glands, fat cells, nerve
fibers, i mmune cells, and miles of blood vessels and is essential in your
regulation of body temperature a nd hydration. The skin is literally your face
to the world. Following a few basic skin care principles can reverse the appearance of
aging. There are three important steps you must take as part of an age-
reversing skin care program: (1) purify , (2) revitalize, and (3) replenish. PURIFY
Y our ski n reflects the purity of your entire body . The principles of a healthy
diet, nutritional supplementation, and detoxification will pay their rewards
in the quality of your skin. In addition to generally healthy lifestyle choices,
you mu st carefu lly clean your skin once or twice daily to re move local
toxins that block your skin pores and predispose you to infections. It is generally best to avoid soap s that contain harsh deter gents and to use
natural cleansers. A yurveda recommends the use of herbal cleansing
powders that remove toxins an d excessive oils while reestablishing acid-
base bal ance. An  easily mixed f ormula that you can make at home includes
equal parts dried chickpea flour ,  dry milk powder , nutmeg, lemo n peel, and
ground c oriander . Use about half a teaspoon with water to make a paste and
gently a pply it to your moistened face. As it begins to dry , rinse of f the
powder .If you wish to e xperiment with traditional A yurvedic cleansing herbs, try
adding neem, manjistha, or sandalwood powder . A basic principle regarding
the cleansing product is not to u se anything on your skin that you wouldn’ t
be comfortable putting into your stomach. Moist herbalize d steam treatments are also helpful in opening clogged
pores an d releas ing toxins. Once a week, treat yourself to a f acial steam
bath to which you add a few drops of essential oil. Lavender , juniper ,
rosemary , ber gamot, or sage all have purifying ef fects on the body . REVIT ALIZE
The second step to reverse the appearance of aging is skin re vitalization. Stimulating the collagen fibers that support the skin can improve its tone
and appe arance. Many modern skin care products contain natural acids that
stimulate the cells that produce collagen, such as glycolic acid, azelaic acid,
and lactic acid. Skin care produ cts with these acids in higher concentration
will cause some peeling and should be used under the supervision of a
skilled s kin care specialist. Milder revitalizing treatments can be applied at
home using readily available natural products. Y ogurt, lemon juice, and grape fruit juice can have a mild stimulating
ef fect. Fresh yogurt can be applied directly to your skin and left on for five
minutes before rinsing. Dilute le mon juice or grapefruit juice with an equal
part of aloe vera juice and apply to the skin. Leave on for two minutes and
then rinse. If your skin is oily , you can do this every day . If your skin tends
to be dry or reactive, dilute the  solution further and use every  second or
third day . REPLENISHAfter cleansing and revitalizing , the skin needs to be replenished. Use a
pure veg etable or nut oil to which a few drops of an essential flo wer or herb
oil has been add ed. T ry mixing almond, jojoba, avocado, or sunflower oil
with ros e, lavender , sandalwood, jasmine, geranium, or lemon essential oils. Apply a small a mount and allow it to be absorbed naturally . Use more if
your skin is on the dry side. Sou rce books on natural beauty ca re are listed
in the references for this chapter . SUN PROTECTION
Always use sunscreen when you  are outdoors. Ultraviolet radiation leads to
collagen damage, wrinkling, and skin cancer . Prevention is much better than
cure, so be awa re of the potentially damaging ef fects of sun on your skin. This is particularly important if you live in a hot climate or at higher
altitudes. T each your children to use sunscreen to prevent unnecessary skin
problems later in their lives. Every day in every way ,
I am incr easing my mental and physical capacity . My Biostat is set at a healthy ____ years of age. I look and feel a healthy ____ years old. I am r eversing my biological age:
By changing my per ception of my body , its aging and time;
Thr ough two kinds of deep r est—r estful awar eness and  r estful sleep;
By nurturing my body thr ough healthy foods;
By using nutritional complements wisely;
By enhancing mind/body integration;
Thr ough exer cise; andBy eliminating toxins fr om my life. 9
Y ou Can Reverse Y our
Biological Age by Cultivating
Flexibility and Creativity
in Consciousness
 
ACTION STEP # 8
I am  r eversing my biological ag e by cultivating flexibility and  cr eativity in
my consciousness. I put flexibility into practice by:
Learning to let go when things don’ t seem to go my way . Practicing the wisdom of uncertainty—not being attached to outcome
and letting go of the need to control. Learning to for give by relinquishing grievances, resent ments,and
r egr ets. I put cr eativity into practice by:
Learning the nine-step cr eative r esponse.Applying the cr eative r esponse to all the challenges and/or problems in
my life. Helping others to solve their problems by teaching them the cr eative
r esponse. Aging is associated with rigidity and decay . Y outh is associated with flexibility and cr eativity . Both flexibility and cr eativity ar e learned behaviors. By cultivating flexibility and cr eativity in consciousness,
you r enew yourself in every moment and
r everse the aging pr ocess. An ancient V edic aphorism says,
“Infinite flexibility and cr eativity
ar e the secr ets to immortality .”
 
Y ou can reverse your biological  age by cultivating flexibility an d creativity
in c onsciousnes s. When we consider growing older we usually think of
becoming less flexible and cre ative. Our language of aging reflects this
view . W e use expressions like “Y ou can’ t teach an old dog new  tricks,” or“I’m too old to change,” or “He’ s just too set in his ways.” In b oth modern
and V edic sciences, the loss of flexibility and creativity is a result of
increasing inertia, entropy , and disorder in the body/mind system. According to V edic theory there  are three fundamental forces a t work in
the universe: Sattwa, Rajas, and T amas. Sattwa is the force of creativity ,
evolution, and transformation. T amas is the force of stability , resistance, and
inertia. Rajas is the tension between the forces of creativity and inertia. As
children and adolescents we are dominated by change, flexibility , and
creativity and have a preponder ance of natural Sattwa. Our bra ins and our
behavior reflect our tremendous  capability to expand, adapt, transform, and
evolve and our willingness and  desire to experience and learn new things. As adult s we see the rise of Rajas. This is a result of the everyday stresses
of life and our attachment to outcomes, as we seek to prove ourselves in the
world. A s we age we become increasingly concerned about s ecurity and
stability and T amas begins to predominate. This stability is refl ected in our
behaviors and in the connections between the neurons in our brains. Stability leads to stagnation, s tagnation leads to decay , decay leads to
disorder and entropy , and ultimately to death. Death i s the soul’ s response to the loss of flexibility . When your
physiology has lost the flexibi lity and creativity to further i ntegrate the
ener gy and information of your life experiences, the soul goes into
incubation. Acc ording to V edic wisdom, when the soul needs t o digest the
experiences of a lifetime, it first incubates and then takes a qu antum leap
into a new context and a new body/mind. In Eastern wisdom traditions this
is the process of reincarnation—incarnating into a new life experience. Rather than waiting for death to take a quantum leap into a new life
experience, why  not take the quantum leap while you are alive? This way
you can incarnate (literally reincarnate) on an ongoing basis. This requires
learning two basic and fundamental behavior patterns: (1) flexibility , which
comes from letting go, and (2) cr eativity , which involves intention,
incubation, and incarnation. By learning to incorporate flexibility and
creativity as your evolving behavioral pattern, you will master on a daily
basis wh at most  people have to  literally die for—to incarnate a nd create anew bod y/ mind . Let’ s explore t hese two qualities that are the foundation of
eternal youth. By cultivating flexibility and cr eativity in consciousness,
you r enew yourself in every moment and r everse the
aging pr ocess. Flexibility
The essence of flexibility is  the willingness to let go. Surveys of
centenarians (people who have lived at least one hundred years ) often ask,
“What d o you believe are the reasons that account for your long and healthy
life? Is it your d iet? Have you been exercising your whole life ? Have you
avoided tobacco? Do you drink alcohol?” The intent of these questions, of
course, is to identify common principles that could help us all live longer ,
healthier lives. Surprisingly , none of these questions clearly reveals the
secret to longevity . The most common explanation that our most senior
citizens of fer for their long life is their ability to let go. Long-living people have flexibility and resiliency when facing the
inevitable challenges in life. If y ou live to be a hundred years old, chances
are goo d you have experienced challenges and losses, yet these super
seniors have been able to move through adversity and get on with their
lives. They relinquish their hol d on experiences that do not serve them. They let go and move on. From a n A yurvedic perspecti ve, this ability to deal with what is
happening but not incur residua l damage is a symptom of strong digestive
power , known in Sanskrit as Agni. The expression “digestive power” is
applied not just to the ability to digest foods but to digest all experiences in
life. Agni is the root of the English word ignite, referring to the power of
fire to metabolize things. When your digestive force is power ful, you arecapable of extracting the nourishment you need from any experience and
eliminating whatever is not serving you. A strong Agni enables you to
digest what life presents without carrying unprocessed residues, which
inhibit your ability to fully embrace life. A strong digestive power is an
essential feature of people who live long, vital lives. Learning to let go is necessary because life is a process of continual
change and transformation. Att empting to stop change by ho lding on is
fighting the natural force of evolution. Ultimately , nature will h ave its way ,
and your struggle against the river of life will exact its toll on your
physiology . Th e wear and te ar born of resistance accelerates aging. Relinquishing your resistance and embracing change reverses aging. Learning to let go does not mean relinquishing your intentio ns. Y our
intentions and desires orchestra te the course of your life and catalyze the
experiences you  need to evolve to higher levels of awareness . Flexibility
does not require letting go of intentions. Flexibility does, however , require
letting g o of your attachment to a specific outcome. Y ou cannot control the
outcome of a si tuation, and holding rigidly to your idea about how things
should b e leads to strain, stress, and aging. Whenever it appears that your
intended outcome is not the one manifesting, bear in mind the following
expression, which we heard from a spiritual teacher:
When things don’ t seem to go my way , I let go of my
attachment to how I think they should be, trusting that 
I am not seeing the big pictur e. If I knew the big pictur e 
I would understand that ther e is a r eason for things
unfolding the way they ar e, and that the cosmos has a
plan for me much grander than anything I have conceived. Letting go and d etaching from outcome is the essence of genuine power
and of fers the on ly real possibility of security . Detachment from  a particular
outcome derive s from trust in the intelligence of the universe and your
connection to it. It implies a will ingness to step into the unknow n—the fieldof al l po ssibilities. This is the re al meaning of flexibility . Attachment to the
known is attachment to the pas t. The past is stability . The past is inertia. The past is entr opy . The past is stagnation. Attachment to th e known—
attachment to the past—accelerates aging. Most people spend their entir e lives seeking security through their
attachments. Attachments are usually to positions and possessions. Because
these att achments rarely bring security or happiness, people often believe
their pro blem is that they need greater positions or more possessions. The
internal conversation sounds like this: “If I just had more money . . . if I just
had a better job  . . . if I just ha d a more passionate relationship . . . then I
would fe el secure and happy .” M oney , positions, possession, and titles are
symbols of security . Symbols of security cannot substitute for real security ,
which can only come from within. Paradoxically , finding genuine and lasting security comes from
surrendering to the wisdom of uncertainty . It means cultivating an inner
attitude of curiosity and acceptance. It means detaching from a particular
outcome and developing the mind-set that whatever occurs is the most
evolutionary out come at the tim e. This state of flexibility , in which you are
able to embrace the unknown and detach from a particular outcome,
reverses the aging process. Relinquishing your r esistance and embracing change
r everses aging. PRESENT -MOMENT A W ARENESS
The Buddhists have an expression: “Nothing should be clung to as me or
mine.” Nothing you identify wi th can really be called yours. Although you
may con sider th e physical vehicle you inhabit as your body , you know by
now that every atom comprising it is only on temporary loan from yourenvironment. W ithin a year , alm ost every atom that you currently call yours
will no longer b e within the boundaries of your skin. Y our thoughts are not
really yo ur thou ghts. They are p art of the collective mind. A hundred years
ago, you could not have had the thought “I am flying on a 747 jet to Las
V egas,” because  these concepts were not yet a part of the collective mind. Y our emotions are not your emo tions. Every emotion you have ever had—
elation, despair , joy , frustration, ecstasy , jealousy—has been experienced by
people s ince the  beginning of hu manity . Not a single molecule, not a single
thought, not a si ngle emotion you have ever had is uniquely yours. Y ou are
part of a lar ger scheme. Y ou ar e woven from a few strands in the infinite
cosmic web of ener gy , transformation, and intelligence. “Nothing should be clung to as me or mine.” Underlying this pre scription
is the recognition that all stress in life results from either grasping or
aversion. When you hold on to anything, be it a material object, a position,
or a relationship , you constrict your awareness and accelerate aging. Y ou
accelerate aging because, at a su btle level, every attachment is accompanied
by fear—fear of loss, fear of losing control, fear of losing approval. When
you evoke fear you set into motion the physiology of stress that accelerates
biological aging. Y ou must let go of this fear in order to reverse aging. The incl ination of the mind is to lean toward something that you hope
will brin g pleas ure or away fro m something that you fear will  bring pain. As a  res ult of this tendency , of t his inclination, you are unable t o remain in
the present moment. When y ou find yourself out of t he present moment, ask yourself, “What
is w rong with this moment?”  Y ou will see that there are only two
possibilities: either you are resisting it or you are just not in it. If you are
resisting it, consciously surrender to the here and now . If you are just not in
it, gently  bring yourself back to the present. Open yourself to the infinite
possibilities that the present moment of fers. Y ou can cultivate present-mome nt awareness through the practice of alert
witnessing—shifting your attention from that which is observed to the silentever -present witness to the observation. In the midst of observation, come
back to the self. Y our observations change on a moment-to-moment basis. If you identify
who you are wi th your observations, your identity has no permanence. It
becomes a moment-to-moment fabrication. When you identi fy yourself
with the objects of your perception, which are in constant flux, you sacrifice
your tru e self for the objects of your self-image. If you identify yourself as
the presi dent of a company , as the owner of a luxury car , as the manager of
an a rtist or mu sician, your sense of self is dependent upon an external
source. This is sometimes kno wn as agency power because your power
derives from attachment to an external agency , be it an or ganization, bank
account, or relationship. The problem with agency power is th at when the
attachment ends, so does the power and your sense of self. The opposite of agency power  is self-power , which comes fr om your
inner connection to Spirit. Underlying all your observations and
experiences in life, underlying all your attachments to people , situations,
and circ umstances, is a domain of ever -present witnessing awareness. This
is your true self; this is your Spirit. In alert witnessing you shift your attention from goal orientation to
process orientation. Y ou become  completely flexible. Y ou are unattached to
outcome. Y ou are comfortable in the realm of uncertainty . When Spirit is
your int ernal ref erence point you neither anticipate nor resist—you simply
allow . When you walk a certain road, you have the intention to reach a
particular desti nation, but if more interesting opportunities present
themselves alon g the way , then  have the flexible inner attitude  to go with
the flow . This process can be s ummed up in one statement, “T ake it as it
comes.” The process becomes the goal. Whenever you find yourself grasping or recoiling, anticipating or
resisting, shift your attention to your witnessing self. In this simple process
of coming back to the self, you return to the present moment. The present
moment is the doorway to the field of infinite possibilities. The presentmoment is characterized by infinite flexibility . Living in present-moment
awareness reverses the aging process. When you evoke fear you set into motion the physiology
of str ess that accelerates biological aging. Y ou must 
let go of this fear in or der to r everse aging. FORGIVENESS
The grea t V edic scholar Eknath Easwawan tells a poignant story . At the end
of a lifet ime, a person’ s soul goes to a plane of existence where each life is
reviewed. The soul enters a the ater in which a movie of the r ecent life is
playing. The soul begins watch ing the movie but often has to turn away
because of terribly uncomforta ble scenes. Sins of omission and sins of
commission cramp the heart, and the scene becomes too painf ul to watch. As a result of n ot being able to watch the complete movie, im portant life
lessons are missed, and the soul must reincarnate to learn them in the next
lifetime. According to this story , the primary cause for not being able to watch the
painful scenes of life is a lack of for giveness—for others and for oneself. For giveness is the essence of let ting go. It means relinquishing attachments
to t he past and  clearing encumbrances that constrict the heart. These
constrictions are  the source of inertia, entropy , and aging. Release them to
grow younger . T ry this simple exercise:
Close your eyes, bring your atte ntion into your heart and ask if you are
holding on to any grievances, hostilities, resentments, or regrets. If any
come to mind, ask what occurred that led to the blockage in your heart. Then, ask what needs to occur now in order to release these t oxins. Look
for t he g ift that every life experience of fers, even painful ones, and express
your gratitude for the experience.Remember this beautiful expres sion from A Course in Miracles and refer
to it often: “Every decision I make is a choice between a grievance and a
miracle.”
W e encourage you to choose a miracle. When things do not go  the way
you think they s hould, you could indulge in self-pity . Y ou cou ld complain
and gripe that life isn’ t fair . Y ou could lament about what y ou are not
getting and make yourself and everyone around you miserable. Or you
could se e the situation as anothe r opportunity for surrender , flexibility , and
expansion. Grievances, hostilities, resentments, and regrets become
festering emotional wounds that accelerate aging. For give and for get and
you will reverse the aging process. BREAKING HABITUAL P A TTERNS
It’ s easy  to become trapped in habitual patterns that do not ser ve you well
and promote inflexibility . Therefore it is very helpful to consciously
cultivate flexibility by relinquis hing things in your life and creating new
patterns of thinking and behaving. Practicing flexibility creates flexibility in
your nervous system by challenging your brain cells to make new
associations. The neurons in your nervous system and the cho ices in your
life are engaged  in a continuou s feedback loop. In your willin gness to try
new things, your neural networks become more flexible and o pen to new
perceptions, interpretations, and choices, which in turn support new
interneuronal connections. Here are a few suggestions of things you can do to break ou t of your
habitual behavioral patterns. T ry them for a week and observe what happens
to your body and mind. Change your diet
Change your exercise programChange your route to work
Change your bedtime
Meditate longer
Buy dif ferent clothing
W ear new colors
Listen to dif ferent kinds of music
Stop wearing a watch
W ear your watch on the other wrist
Go out to lunch with someone new
T ry a new restaurant
Change your opinion about something or someone
Call a friend you haven’ t spoken to in years
Answer the phone dif ferently
Change your voice mail message
Read a book that you usually wouldn’ t consider
W atch a dif ferent television show
Listen to a dif ferent radio station
T ake a new class
Let go of old ways and you w ill feel renewed. Learning to be flexible
means le arning t o access the mo st flexible domain of your being — the field
of t imeless awareness underly ing your mind and body . Th is realm offlexibility is the basis of growing younger . Immerse yourself in this field of
infinite flexibilit y on a daily basis through meditation. Have th e conscious
intention to think and act flexibly . Practice letting go whenever holding on
is no longer serving you. Cr eativity
Once you have cultivated flexib ility you are ready for creativ ity . W ithout
flexibility there can be no creativity . According to Amit Goswami, author of
Quantum Cr eativity , creativity is a discontinuous, nonalgorithmic quantum
jump from one pattern of thinking into a completely new o ne. It is a
quantum leap— a paradigm shift— from one pattern to anot her without
progressing through incremental steps in between. All the great creative
advances in the worlds of art, music, architecture, or science represent new
leaps of imagina tion that could not have been predicted on the basis of the
prevailing patterns. Once the creative leap is made, be it Einstein’ s theory
of re lativity , Picasso’ s cubism, o r music by the Beatles, the world is forever
changed. Y ou are by nature a creative being, although you may no longer think of
yourself this way . As a child you had a rich imagination, w hich is the
source of all creativity . Y our youthful flexibility and present-moment
awareness allowed for new perceptions and interpretations on an ongoing
basis. Y ou were capable of cre ating entire worlds with your i magination,
whether it was building sand castles at the beach or playing with your
make-believe fa mily of dolls. T oday , the very fact that you are alive is
evidence of your creativity , for you are co-creating your reality every
moment. Y ou are creating a new body/mind with every impulse of
experience and every breath you take. Learn to reawaken your creative
response and you will recapture the ener gy and enthusiasm of youth. In
addition to helping you grow younger , the creative process can be applied to
healing, relationships, the arts, and business.T AKING A CREA TIVE LEAP
Creativity is the process of takin g the raw ener gy , information, a nd material
of th e universe and transforming it into something that has never been
created before. Whether you are creating an original work of art, a new
piece of music, a unique software program, or a healing response to an
illness, creativity requires a leap in awareness. If you are improving on
something that already exists, that is innovation. Creativity brings
something into existence that has never been here before. There are nine b asic steps to the creative response. Become con scious of
these steps and use the creative response whenever you are facing an issue
or ch allenge in y our life. Y ou h ave unlimited creative potential  that can be
used to solve any problem you are facing. Intended Outcome
The first step of the creative response is to have a clear intended
outcome. Y ou must have a clear vision of  what it is that you want to have
unfold. If you are not certain about what you want, you are  unlikely to
fulfill yo ur needs. State your in tended outcome in clear positive language:
“I h ave a health y body with abundant ener gy .” “My intimate r elationships
are l oving and nurturing.” A void defining your intentions in ter ms of what
you don’ t want. Rather than saying “I want to leave this dreadful job,” state
your int ention as “I have a position that enables me to express my full
potential.”
W rite down your intentions and review them regularly to be certain that
they ref lect your current desires. Although living in a state of flexibility
implies not being attached to a particular outcome, it is still e ssential that
you have unambiguous intentions. Formulate a clear intention and be
detached from the outcome.Information Gathering
The second step is information gathering. In this stage, learn everything
that is available about the issue you are facing. Become an expert on the
challenge that confronts you, recognizing that your particular variation is
unique. Read books, do research, use the Internet, explore spiritual
literature, go to lectures, participate in workshops, speak with friends and
family . G ather i nformation from  every possible source without judging or
filtering. Pay attention to the sensations in your body as you learn what
others have to say about your issue, noting which approaches feel
comfortable for you and which feel uncomfortable. Information Reshuffling and Information Analysis
As y ou gather in formation, your mind will digest what you are  learning,
formatting the information in ways that are useful to you. This process of
information r eshuffling takes place on both conscious  and subconscious
levels. The data is analyzed looking for patterns that can provide clues to a
new understanding of the issue. Incubation
The fourth step is incubation. In incubation, you allow your awareness to
settle in to a more expanded state of consciousness through meditation. Incubation is the stage of surren der . Having formed your intention, gathered
and resh uf fled t he information you obtained, the next step is to go beyond
the r ational mind and access a deeper domain of awareness to  orchestrate
the fulfillment of your intentio n. Use the So Hum meditatio n technique
described in Chapter 3 to quiet and expand your mind. Review your
intention for a few moments before you begin meditation and then let go. Letting go allows for something entirely new to arise in your awareness—
something that you had not conceived of before.Insight
When th e condit ions are right, y ou will experience the fifth step , which is
insight. Insight results from the rearranging of the previous relationships
and meanings into an entirely  new context, which then allows for an
entirely new interpretation. Insight is the creative leap— your perception
and interpretation of the issue c ompletely shifts. This new inner vision is
the esse nce of the creative re sponse. It precipitates from a domain of
awareness that is nonlocal. The  process of meditation allows y ou to enter
into this nonlocal domain that exists for eternity in the gaps between your
thoughts. When  you are able to go beyond your ideas about how things
should be, gaining access to thi s deeper domain, something unprecedented
emer ges. This is insight. Inspiration
When th e insight occurs, it spontaneously generates inspiration. The
level of enthusia sm that wells u p when insight dawns is a good barometer
that the insight is a real creative leap. When you really see things in a new
light, yo ur entire mind/body becomes ener gized. Y ou know in your mind
that your insight is true and you  feel in your body that the insi ght is right. Passion, exhilaration, excitement, joy , and enthusiasm are all si gns that the
insight that arose while you were incubating will solve your problem and
fulfill your intention. Implementation, Integration, Incarnation
It is now  your task to translate th e insight into action. Now that you know
what is necessar y to fulfill your intention, do it. Make the change, take the
step, and implement the a ction to actualize the creat ive response. Integrate
the c hange into your life. As yo u integrate and implement the insight into
your thin king and behavior , you incarnate it in your body . It becomes a par t
of you, and as a result you are a new person. Y ou have taken a creative leap
and have become a new body/mind.Ar chimedes, the Ar chetypal Cr eative Response
Archimedes was the greatest mathematician of his time. A third-century
B.C. native of S yracuse, Sicily , he was asked by King Hiero to determine if
the crow n that was made for him was of pure gold (Intention). Archimedes
knew th at if he c ould calculate the density of the crown he would be able to
determine if any other metals had been added (Information gathering). He
knew that density was weight ( mass) divided by volume. He could weigh
the crown on a scale, but due to its irregular shape, he did not know how to
find its precise volume. After considering this problem conti nuously for
days (Information r eshuffling), he was convinced by his servant to let the
puzzle g o for a little while and take a warm bath (Incubation). As he was
lowering himsel f into the tub, he noticed that his body displaced an amount
of water  equal to his volume. This led to the idea (Insight) that he could
calculate the density of the cr own by determining how much water it
displaced. He was so exuberant about his discovery (Inspiration) that
legend has it he ran through the streets of Syracuse shouting  “Eureka!,”
which in Greek means “I’ve fou nd it!” As it turned out, the metalsmith had
diluted the gold with silver . As a n e xample of how this might work on a personal level, consider a
woman who is in constant turmoil because her spouse is not meeting her
expectations. In  her mind, he spends too much time alone or on the phone
with friends and colleagues. As a result of her distress and anxiety she has
been eating more, gaining weight, and losing her self-esteem. She dec ides to apply this nine-s tep creative process by first formulating
her i ntention, which is to feel se cure, appreciated, and loved. She makes the
commitment to read several pop ular books on relationships and is exposed
to a num ber of new perspectives. She learns meditation, which  she begins
practicing regularly . During a particularly deep sitting, she has the insight
that she has really been m issing her friends, and her resentment stems fr om
her husband’ s experiencing som ething that she would like for herself. She
becomes inspire d by the idea and makes plans to visit an old college
roommate in another town. Sh e so enjoys the few days that her entireattitude about her life complete ly shifts. She begins exercising and eating
better and all her relationships, including her marriage, improve. By s etting up the conditions th at allowed her to experience a  creative
quantum leap, she was able to access life ener gy that was  previously
unavailable to her . This ability to experience new creative solu tions to old
problems is the essence of flexibility and a key component of re versing the
aging process. OPPOR TUNITIES FOR CREA TIVITY
Use the nine-step process every  time you perceive a problem or challenge
in yo ur l ife. See  every challenge as an opportunity for creativity . When you
see ever y problem as an opportunity to practice the creative responses, you
will look forward to and be excited by the challenges in your life. Help ot hers to solve their pr oblems by teaching them the creative
response. T each and use the creative response at work and in your home
life. T ea ch your children how to  perceive their challenges as opportunities
for crea tivity . Flexibility and creativity are the keys to e volutionary
progress. Even in Darwinian te rms, those who are able to adapt survive. Adaptation first requires flexi bility , then creativity . Every evolutionary
jump is a quantum leap in creativity . When you cultivate fle xibility and
practice the creative response you will notice how much younger , more
flexible, and more adaptable you become. Every day in every way ,
I am incr easing my mental and physical capacity . My Biostat is set at a healthy ____ years of age. I look and feel a healthy ____ years old. I am r eversing my biological age:By changing my per ception of my body , its aging and time;
Thr ough two kinds of deep r est—r estful awar eness and  r estful sleep;
By nurturing my body thr ough healthy foods;
By using nutritional complements wisely;
By enhancing mind/body integration;
Thr ough exer cise;
By eliminating toxins fr om my life; and
By cultivating flexibility and cr eativity in consciousness. 1 0
Y ou Can Reverse Y our Biological
Age Through Love
 
ACTION STEP # 9
I am r eversing my biological age by making love the most  important thing
in my life. I put this into practice by:
Listening attentively and without interruption. Expr essing my appr eciation to at least one person every day in an
honest and sincer e manner . Consciously engaging in loving touch with those close to me, and
becoming awar e of my sexual ener gy in all its differ ent  expr essions. Love heals. Love r enews. Love makes you feel safe. Love brings you closer to God. Love conquers all fear .Love makes you young. Love r everses the aging pr ocess. Y ou can reverse your biological age through love. Love is the essence of
life. For human beings, love is as essential as food and water , and without
it, we cannot su rvive. Love is not just a psychological experience; love
transforms biology . Mammalian babies from bunnies to chimpa nzees fail to
develop normally if they are de prived of their mother ’ s love. A lthough we
are not usually accustomed to considering love in scientific terms, over the
past twenty-fiv e years, scientific studies have provided indisputable
evidence that the experience of love has profound life-supporting ef fects on
our physiology . Scientific studie s show that by  merely observing acts of com passion,
your immunity is enhanced. David McClelland of Harvard University found
that college students increase their production of salivary antibodies when
watching a film of Mother T eresa comforting a child, whereas their
antibody levels are depressed when watching war scenes. David Spiegel’ s
studies from Stanford University have taught us that women facing
metastatic cance r who participate in caring support groups live, on average,
twice as long a s those who d o not. W e know that men suf fering heart
attacks w ho bel ieve that their w ives love them do better than  those whodon’ t, a nd a simple monthly phone call from a caring cardiac nurse can
double t he survi val time of a heart patient. Even studies with animals have
found th at tende rness and af fection can reduce their risk for disease. In an
intriguing study from Ohio State University , two groups of rabb its were fed
a high-cholesterol diet. In one group the rabbits were regularly petted and
cuddled by the animal technicians. Rabbits in the other gro up, fed the
identical diet, did not receive any petting. At the completion of the study ,
the rabbits that were treated tenderly had only 10 percent as much fat
deposited into their blood vessels as their touch-deficient peers. Love is
metabolized into physiology and can make the dif ference between health
and sickness, life and death. These sc ientific reports do not surprise most of us. W e have a ll known
the e xuberance and vitality that we experience when we feel loved. Most of
us a lso know t he anguish and despair that come from sep aration and
rejection. People  suf fering the lo ss of love have changes in the c hemistry of
their brains that influence ev ery cell in their body . The se changes
substantially inc rease their risk f or a wide range of illnesses, from cancer to
heart disease. Similarly , the exhilaration, enthusiasm, an d comfort
generated by love create life-af firming transformations that enliven both
emotional and physical well-being. Love makes us feel good because it
creates the biology of delight,  joy , and safety . Love is healing, love is
nourishing, love is good for us. Love transforms biology . What Is Love? Knowing that love transforms o ur physiology in the direction o f improved
health and vitality , we are ready to address a fundamental question: What is
love? Poets, philosophers, and songwriters since time immemorial have
waxed e loquent on this perennial subject. No word in any language is
embraced as personally as love. It elicits in each of us a lifetime ofmemories and desires, weaving  together the innocence and pas sion of our
bodies, hearts, and souls. For most people, love is an emotion, a sentiment, a feeling that can
consume your thoughts and molecules. Falling in love is an altered state of
consciousness, in which your perceptions, interpretations, and choices are
transformed. Wh en you are in love you become carefree and open to new
experiences. Y ou become vulnerable and invincible at the same time. Y ou
become renewe d, exhilarated, and joyful. Love detaches you from your
usual mundane and trivial conce rns and opens your awareness to the magic
and mystery of life. Love reminds you that you are alive. Love ins pires you to do great things. Through the power of love you tap
into your primordial ener gies an d become a mythical being. L overs aspire
to epic undertak ings to demonstrate the power of their love. Love connects
you with archetypal lovers. Y ou  relish reenacting the recurrent love stories
that precipitate out of the myth ological realm of the human su bconscious. Every c ulture te lls its love stor ies. From Cupid and Psyche to  Rama and
Sita to Romeo and Juliet to Sp encer T racy and Katharine Hepburn, these
romantic stories reenact the hell of separation and the heaven of reunion
that hum an beings experience through love. These perennial love stories are
the keys that open the door to universal love. Personal Love as Concentrated Universal Love
The great spiritual traditions from every culture inform us that unity is the
ultimate truth of all existence. T he one undivided Spirit partitions itself into
infinite beings. Once having fra gmented, however , the parts are driven by
fundamental forces to reestablish unity . Atoms endeavor to become
molecules. Celestial bodies seek  to join solar systems. Human beings strive
to mer ge with their beloved. Love at its essence is the quest for spirit, and
the longing for communion. The need to fulfill that longing for oneness
resonates deep in our personal and collective memory . Through all the
striving to find fullness outside ourselves, we know at some preconsciouslevel tha t the only true source o f love is the infinite, unbounded ocean of
spirit within our own being. The more in touch with spirit we are, the more
loving we feel and behave. Most people are not directly  in tune with their spiritual essence. Therefore, Natu re, in her compassion for human beings, has p rovided the
opportunity for us to fall in love  with each other . This provides us a glimpse
of th e transformational power o f spirit. Personal love provides us with a
taste of universa l love, but desp ite how grand we feel when we are in love,
it is not enough. W e are eterna lly driven to experience more love, more
intimacy , more wonder because our soul is driven to experience the ultimate
reunion with spirit. When you recognize that love a nd spirit are the same, you will see your
longing for love as a hunger for more awareness, more communion, more
connection with  the universal i ntelligence that underlies the world. Every
act of love is an act of divinity , an expression of spirit. Make a commitm ent to see ever y act of love as an expression of  spirit. A
sweet look from a child, giving money to a homeless person, helping a
stranger change  a flat tire, bringing a spouse flowers, volun teering at a
hospital—each of these acts is b oth personal and spiritual. They bring you
greater j oy by helping expand y our concept of who you are. Every act of
love loo sens the shackle of ego imprisonment. Every act of love  gives you a
taste of spirit and brings you a step closer to integrating the t imeless into
time-bound existence. Love creates the experience of present-moment
eternity , and the more we experience eternity the younger we  grow . The
deeper we tap i nto and express our core, which is spirit, the more loving
and liberated we feel. Think about love. T alk about love. Seek out love. Encourage love. Commit yoursel f to expressing l ove in every interaction of your  life. This is
the way your soul remembers its perfection. All lessons in life are lessons in
love. Liv ing a spiritual life means seeking out love in every situ ation. Make
love the most im portant thing in your life and you will grow y ounger and
live longer .Love at its essence is the quest for spirit. Communicating Love
Love is spirit in motion. Love m oving from one heart to anoth er generates
the biology that reverses aging. Love has to be expressed in order for it to
serve yo u and those you love. Y ou can express your love for another person
in three basic ways:
Y ou listen attentively to what they are saying. Y ou express in words or actions your appreciation for them. Y ou touch them lovingly with af fection. Each of these demonstrations o f love happens spontaneously when you
fall in love. Lo ok at any couple smitten with love. They hang on each
other ’ s every word. They wax poetic about the things they find attractive,
brilliant, and exceptional in ea ch other . They express their a ppreciation
through objects of love, from flowers to jewelry to homemade cookies. Finally , they cannot keep their hands of f each other . Whether you are in the first stages of a new romance, have b een in a
committed relationship for years, or are visiting an old friend from college,
these three faces of love are important. Show your love by being fully
present. Express  your appreciation in words and deeds. Be af fectionate. Consciously practice these principles of love. As a result, you  will grow
younger and live longer . Love, Sex, and SpiritSexual e ner gy is  the primal cre ative ener gy of the universe, an d all things
that are alive arise from sexual ener gy . In animals and other life forms,
sexual ener gy expresses itself exclusively as biological creativity . Animals
beget more animals. In human beings, sexual ener gy can be channeled into
creativity at all levels—physical, emotional, and spiritual. In any situation
that makes you feel attraction, arousal, alertness, passion, interest,
inspiration, excitement, creativity , or enthusiasm, sexual ener gy is at work. All these dif ferent manifestation s of sexual ener gy express themselves in
your phy sical body as sensations. Whenever you are sexually aroused, there
is an accompany ing feeling in y our body . Whenever you feel enthusiastic,
inspired, joyful, ener gized, or passionate, there is also an acc ompanying
feeling—a certa in physical sensation. The common thread in each of these
experiences is a feeling of expansion. At times the expansive feeling may
be so strong tha t you feel you are bursting out of your skin. Y o u are filled
with en er gy . The medical term for this state of fullness is tumescence. Although it is usually applied to states of sexual arousal, it can also
characterize these other expressions of excitement and passion. Learn to get in touch with these sensations and recognize thei r various
expressions in your body . Right now , close your eyes an d recall an
experience when you were passionately aroused by something. It may have
been a beautiful piece of art, a breathtaking natural scene, or an emotionally
moving piece of music. Perhaps  it was when a brilliant business idea came
to you, or when you heard something that gave you amazing in sight into a
problem you were facing. It m ay have been an erotic, passio nate sexual
experience. Notice the sensations that your inspirational experience
generates in your body . This is the essence of sexual ene r gy , which
expresses itself in many dif ferent forms. Learn to recognize this powerful
life force in all its manifestations. Even as  you go about your dail y life, pay attention to these experiences
of inten se alive ness. They may be evoked by someone to whom you are
intensely attract ed, by a spectac ular splash of color in the sky at sunset, or
by s eeing the be autiful, loving hands of your grand-mother . Be aware of the
empowering ene r gy that is ava ilable to you as a passionate lover of life.Nurture these sensations with your attention until you feel a bubbling
exuberance in every cell of your  body . The more you look for an d recognize
these sen sations in your body , th e more your sensory experience will be one
of h eightened awareness, and the more you will experienc e a simple,
unaf fected appreciation and gra titude for the whole of creation . This is the
essence of a spiritual life. Despite what you may have been conditioned to believe, sexu al desire is
sacred a nd virtu ous. It is the suppression of sexual ener gy that is artificial,
unnatural, and contrived. For many people, the experience of sexual
intimacy is their first glimpse in to the experience of spirituality . When you
and you r beloved mer ge physically and emotionally , you go beyond the
boundaries of the ego. In this state of union you experience ti melessness,
naturalness, playfulness, and defenselessness. These are qualities of spirit
when it is not constrained by control, fear , or separation. Cultivating this
state of natural openness and self-assured vulnerability in all relationships is
the essence of a spiritual life. SEXUAL VIT ALITY
Sexual e ner gy i s available to us at all ages. Being open to sexual ener gy
reverses aging. Although many people have the impression that sexual
ener gy d iminishes as we age, st udies have shown that the vast  majority of
both men and women are sexually active through their sixties, seventies,
and beyond. About 90 percent of married men and women in their sixties
and over 80 pe rcent of men a nd women in their seventies a re sexually
active and find it enjoyable. Sexuality is a feature of intimate loving
relationships throughout adult life. There are physiological change s associated with aging that looked at
from on e angle can be viewed as a loss but from another perspe ctive can be
seen as an opportunity . Some men in their sixties and seventies take longer
to become physically aroused. Some women need help compensating fortissue dr yness that is associated with diminished estrogen production. These
issues c an be easily addressed.
Grow_Younger_Live_Longer_by_Deepak_Chopra.txt
Summarize the following text section accurately and concisely. Maintain specific details and numerical information, and use anti-repetition mechanisms:

        When people who have been indulging a life-damaging habit
begin meditatin g, they often spontaneously lose their desire for the toxic
experience. Wh en someone who has relinquished a toxic habi t complains
that they have started it up again, the first question we ask is “Are you still
meditating. ” Invariably the an swer is no, often because their life was
becoming so dynamic, their meditation time became a lower priority. Regularly accessing the quiet, expanded state of awareness through
meditation is an essential component of releasing noxious habits. Other approach es that can be useful in filling the space left by the
habitual behavior include starting an exercise program, taking classes in a
subject that is fascinating to yo u, and dedicating yourself to h ealing your
relationships. It is sad how often a toxic behavior that compensates for a
lack of love actually reduces the likelihood of finding genuine love. It can
be very helpful to join support groups of people who have gone or are going
through the transformation you are seeking. Associate with people who
support your healthy choices and minimize your exposure to those lookingto reinfo rce their toxic habits by disparaging your ef forts to change your
life. The elimination of toxins awakens 
the capacity for r enewal. W A TER—NA TURE’S PURIFIER
A ve ry s imple b ut powerful purification technique is to boost your intake of
water. The human body is ap proximately three-fourths water and most
biochemical reactions operate best within a narrow window of
concentration. S everal scientific  studies have found that our sensitivity to
thirst diminishes as we age, so we become at risk for developing subtle
levels o f dehydration of which we may not be consciously aware. Most
people d o not drink enough wa ter, which can lead to a host of  symptoms. Headaches, constipation, dry skin, fatigue, and indigestion may actually
reflect s ubtle de hydration. Some  physicians have gone as far as to suggest
that man y comm on health concerns, including high blood pressure, asthma,
and chronic pain have their origins in dehydration. Assuming that you do not have kidney or liver problems, we recommend
getting into the habit of drin king water throughout the day. Y ou can
calculate the recommended nu mber of ounces of daily water intake by
dividing your weight in pounds by two. For exam ple, if you weigh 160 p ounds, your daily water intake should be
80 ounces or 10 cups per day. Most bottled water comes in half-liter
containers, equi valent to just ov er two cups, so this would mean drinking
five bott les per day. Soda bever ages, tea, and cof fee do not count, as theircaf feine content has a diuretic ef fect. Similarly, alcohol also causes water
loss and does n ot contribute to rehydration. If you are active in sports,
taking d iuretics, or live in a hot, dry climate, increase your dai ly intake by
another 10 to 15  percent. Favor water -rich fruits and vegetables including
cantaloupe, grapefruit, peaches, watermelon, asparagus, peppers, carrots,
and mushrooms. Minimize your intake of artificially sweetened beverages. When yo u are drinking enough water you will feel the need to empty your
bladder about every two hours. Many people who follow this water routine report that they more easily
lose unw anted weight and have more ener gy and less chronic aches and
pains. Drinking plenty of fresh,  pure water is one of the simplest and least
expensive ways to reverse the aging process. ELIMINA TE T OXIC FOODS
Freshly grown and lovingly prepared foods are richest in Prana, or life
ener gy. Foods that have been s itting around for months in a can on your
shelf are less lik ely to nourish y our body, mind, and spirit. Start a vegetable
garden i n your backyard and grow fresh herbs and spices to en hance your
meals. Shop at your local farmer ’ s markets and take the time to prepare
delicious meals,  applying the pr inciples explored in Chapter 3. If you find
yourself regularly eating frozen, canned, microwaved, or highly processed
foods, shift your time priorities to make nourishing yourself hig her on your
list. Make the preparation of m eals a family or community ex perience so
you can enjoy the process as well as the product. There is increasing evidence th at the pesticides and artificial fertilizers
used in modern agriculture are taking their toll on our he alth. These
synthetic chemi cals are finding their way into our air and water supply. They have been implicated as po ssibly contributing to a number of dif ferent
cancers, particularly of the reproductive system. Studies have shown that it takes  diligent washing to remove the  pesticide
residues that are present on fru its and vegetables. For these reasons, we
encourage you to favor or ganically grown foods. Although they cost more,
you can  feel confident that you and your family are not consuming
unnecessary tox ins along with y our meals. Y ou will also know that you are
doing your share to reduce the accumulation of toxins in your environment. RELEASE T OXIC EMOTIONS
Although we are all aware of the health-depleting ef fec ts of toxic
substances and toxic foods, to xic emotions are often the m ost harmful
accelerators of the aging process. Whenever you carry resentment, hostility,
regret, o r grieva nces in your he art, your vitality is eroded. T ry  this simple
practice:
Find a quiet place, sit comfortably, and close your eyes. Now take a few minutes to settle your mind with the So Hum
meditation. After a little while, bring your attention into your body and scan it for
any area of tension or resistance. If you identify a place of congestion,
have the intention to let it go. Bring your attention into your heart and acknowledge all the things for
which you feel grateful. Now listen to your heart and ask yourself the question, “What am I
carrying with me from the past that is no longer serving me well in the
present. ”
If you identify any encumbrances in your heart, have the intention to
release them now. Let go of any resentments, grievances, or regrets
that you find. As you release these toxic emotions, see if you can find the gift that
this toxic emotion was hiding. For example, if you felt pain as a result
of someone’ s behavior, the gift may be that you learned more self-
reliance. Make the commitment to regularly acknowledge gratitude and
relinquish all grievances from your heart. Encumbering yo ur heart with toxic emotions prevents you from fully
experiencing the magic, mystery, and joy that is available to you right now. Make th e comm itment to release the resentments, regrets, and grievances
that are causing more harm to you than anyone else. The process of releasing emoti onal toxins is similar to that for releasing
physical ones. Y ou must first have a clear intention that you wan t to replace
life-depleting emotions with life-enhancing ones. The metabolism of regret
and resentment into compassion and for giveness can dramatically awaken
your body, mind, and spirit to your primordial vital ener gy. W rite about the history that cre ated the toxic emotion, describing both
what ha ppened and how you fe el as a result of the situation. S tudies have
shown that journaling about upsetting emotional experiences can improve
your im mune function, as well as help you gain clarity and in sight. In his
book Nonviolent Communication, psychologist Ma rshall Rosenber g teaches
an emot ional vocabulary that avoids victimization. Steer clear from words
like abandoned, abused, neglected, and mistreated; instead, describe the
actual fe elings of anger, sadness, loneliness, and fear that the circumstance
evoked. Once yo u have written about the circumstances leading to the toxic
emotions, perform some physic al ritual with the intention of releasing the
hold these feeling have on your soul. Do some deep breathing, get a
massage, pound  a pillow, dance with abandon, or go for a long run until
your body has released the tension that is stored with the emotion. Then,
open your heart to feelings that generate the age-reversing emotions offor giveness, har mony, laughter,  and love rather than the entropy evoking
ones of anguish, resentment, regret, and despair. T oxic emotions ar e often the most harmful accelerators
of the aging pr ocess. Commit to r eleasing them
fr om your heart and mind. T ransform or Release T oxic Relationships
Y ou may, at times, find yourself in relationships that are laced with conflict. Although you may enjoy the  passion and drama these relationships
generate, over time, they will inevitably make you feel older and depleted. It is esse ntial tha t you transform toxic relationships into nourish ing ones. If
you acce pt that reality is a selec tive act of perception and interp retation, the
most em powering way to transform a relationship is to change the way you
view the other person. Every re lationship is a mirror th at can show you some aspect of yourself. When you are engaged in conflict, ask yourself, “What is this situation
telling me about my own nature. ” T ry this simple exercise that can be
helpful in revealing the hidden meaning in a dif ficult relationship. W rite down as m any traits as you can think of that describe th e person
with whom you are having problems. Now loo k again  at each descrip tive word and see which ones create an
emotional char g e in you. For example, you may have des cribed yourmanager as:
As you review your list, you may see traits that r eally irritate you:
controlling, needy, unappreciative, and stubborn. Now look at y ourself. Are
these words that others might  use to describe you. Do you have the
tendency to reflect these traits. Have you expressed these qua lities in the
past. M ore often than not, the traits that bother you the most in another
person a re the ones you try ha rdest to deny in yourself. As you embrace
these da rker qua lities in your ow n heart, you may find yourself less inclined
to judge someone else for expressing them. As you relinquish your
judgment and interpretation, yo u may open to the possibility that there are
other qu alities t hat may be attr active in the person, which yo u have not
allowed yourself to see. MEETING YOUR NEEDS
Relationships thrive when both  parties feel their needs are being met and
struggle when they are not. Put very simply: Y ou feel good when your
needs ar e being met and bad when they are not. Not getting you r needs met
leads to stress, t oxic emotions, and toxic relationships. Learning to express
your nee ds and emotions in a healthy way fosters nourishing r elationships
and reverses aging. As i nfants, we e xpect our caregivers to fulfill our needs, even if we don’ t
know what they are. W e wail a few times and anticipate Mother scrambling
to determ ine if we are hungry, cold, tired, bored, or just want to be held. W e
carry these same desires into ad ulthood and become hurt, frustrated, angry,
or depressed when our lovers, friends, or associates are unable to
immediately figure out what we need and give it to us. Thi s is not anapproach that is likely to be suc cessful. Let’ s explore a more ef fective way
to express your needs and emotions. THE DIALOGUE OF NEEDS
The humanistic psychologist Abraham Maslow described five basic needs
that drive us all. First, we have basic physiological needs, such as food,
water, and protection against extreme heat or cold. Once these needs are
met we are motivated by the n eed for safety and security. W e  all want to
feel prot ected fr om physical and emotional harm. The third need is social—
the n eed for com munity, friendship, love, and belonging. As the se needs are
met we have the need for self-esteem. At this level, achievement, respect,
recognition, and status are sought. The final need is to find meaning,
beauty, and wisdom in life. Mas low called this final step self-ac tualization. In Eastern traditions this is the state of enlightenment. Self-actualized people are acce pting, spontaneous, natural, an d simple. They are dedicated to a life of meaning and creativity. They are as
comfortable alone as they are i n intimate personal relationships. They are
playful and laugh easily. They know how to meet their needs. In his book Nonviolent Communication, Marshall Rosenb er g describes a
simple process to enhance the ch ances of getting your needs met. Whenever
your needs are not met and you become upset, first ask yourself, “What am
I observing. ” Rather than saying  to the other person “Y ou are al ways late to
every date,” say “W e agreed to meet at noon and you did not arrive until
12:30 P. M. ” Separate your judgments and evaluation from your
observations and you will be less likely to trigger defensiveness. The second step is to identify what you are feeling. Develop a rich
emotional vocabulary that does  not make you a victim. A void words that
require s omeone else to be there  for you to experience your emotions, such
as ig nored, rejected, neglected, abandoned, or abused. Y ou are empowered
when yo u say you feel alarmed, annoyed, exhausted, frightened, lonely,outraged, or sad, but you give away your power when you use the
vocabulary of the victim. The thir d step is to determine w hat you actually need from the situation. If you cannot be clear on what your needs are, it’ s very unlikely that the
other person is in a better position to figure it out. The four th step is to formulate a  specific request. Ask for what you need
as specifically as possible. Rather than demanding “Y ou need to spend more
time wi th me or else. ,” rephrase it in the form of a request: “Are you
willing t o come home an hour e arly from work W ednesday afternoon so we
can take  a walk together. ” Peo ple are much more likely to respond to a
request than a demand. W e would add a fifth step to Dr. Rosenber g’ s original four. Whether your
request is met o r not, ask yours elf, what is the gift in this situation. What
can you learn from this circumstance about yourself and life. What is the
lesson that can r aise you to a higher level of awareness. Find th e gift, even
if it is not the one you originally anticipated. Make th e comm itment to communicate your needs consciously, and you
will waste a lot less ener gy in conflict. Accept your dif ferences as a cause of
celebration, rather than finding it necessary to make the other person wrong. Because we believe that cultivating loving relationships is such an
important component of reversi ng the aging process, we devote an entire
step to it in Chapter 10. Accept your differ ences as a cause of celebration. Release T oxic W ork
Most people spend a good portion of their life on the job. So ideally work
should af ford the opportunity  to express your creativity, to interact
meaningfully wi th your coworkers, and to provide the material s ecurity youseek. Un fortunately, many peop le find their workplace to be a source of
stress ra ther than fulfillment, and consequently, aging is accelerated rather
than reversed. The world would be a better place if we all could do what made us
happy, while expressing our unique talents in service to others and
ourselves. Acco rding to A yurveda, this is the state of living in dharma, or
fulfilling your purpose in life. Even if you are not able to earn a living
doing exactly what you like doing best, see if you can bring some aliveness
to your workplace. T ry connecting more openly with your coworkers so your work
environment is emotionally healthier. Observe your environment and see if you can improve the sounds,
sights, or smells that surround you. Look for opportunities to align your work with your values, needs, and
beliefs. Life is precious and you have the right to perform work that is
meaningful. A test to see if you  are in your dharma is to notic e how often
you look at the time. If your in ner dialogue tells you that time is creeping
by very slowly and you cannot w ait to get of f work, you are probably not in
a positio n that is fully expressin g your purpose in life. If, on the  other hand,
you find that tim e flies while y ou are engaged, it is a good clue that this
work is the type that can help y ou grow younger. Listen to the  signals that
your body and mind are commu nicating and commit to spending your day
creating greater fulfillment for you and those in your life. Reversing the Appearance of Aging
The field of ener gy, information, and intelligence commonly known as the
skin is your la r gest and most adaptable or gan. As the bou ndary zonebetween your inner and outer w orlds, the skin protects your tissues, cells,
and mo lecules from the onslaught of microor ganisms, temperature
extremes, ultraviolet and infrared radiation, and chemical pollutants present
in yo ur e nvironment. It constant ly monitors stimuli from your s urroundings
through its innumerable touch, temperature, and pain receptors, and sends
this information  to your brain on a moment-to-moment basis. Y our soft
pliant sk in has the remarkable ability to dif ferentiate itself into the long
strands of your hair or your flat hard nails by rearranging its collagen
molecules. It is the site of vita min D activation, crucial for maintaining
strong b ones. The skin contains sweat glands, oil glands, fat cells, nerve
fibers, i mmune cells, and miles of blood vessels and is essential in your
regulation of body temperature a nd hydration. The skin is literally your face
to the world. Following a few basic skin care principles can reverse the appearance of
aging. There are three important steps you must take as part of an age-
reversing skin care program: (1) purify, (2) revitalize, and (3) replenish. PURIFY
Y our ski n reflects the purity of your entire body. The principles of a healthy
diet, nutritional supplementation, and detoxification will pay their rewards
in the quality of your skin. In addition to generally healthy lifestyle choices,
you mu st carefu lly clean your skin once or twice daily to re move local
toxins that block your skin pores and predispose you to infections. It is generally best to avoid soap s that contain harsh deter gents and to use
natural cleansers. A yurveda recommends the use of herbal cleansing
powders that remove toxins an d excessive oils while reestablishing acid-
base bal ance. An  easily mixed f ormula that you can make at home includes
equal parts dried chickpea flour,  dry milk powder, nutmeg, lemo n peel, and
ground c oriander. Use about half a teaspoon with water to make a paste and
gently a pply it to your moistened face. As it begins to dry, rinse of f the
powder. If you wish to e xperiment with traditional A yurvedic cleansing herbs, try
adding neem, manjistha, or sandalwood powder. A basic principle regarding
the cleansing product is not to u se anything on your skin that you wouldn’ t
be comfortable putting into your stomach. Moist herbalize d steam treatments are also helpful in opening clogged
pores an d releas ing toxins. Once a week, treat yourself to a f acial steam
bath to which you add a few drops of essential oil. Lavender, juniper,
rosemary, ber gamot, or sage all have purifying ef fects on the body. REVIT ALIZE
The second step to reverse the appearance of aging is skin re vitalization. Stimulating the collagen fibers that support the skin can improve its tone
and appe arance. Many modern skin care products contain natural acids that
stimulate the cells that produce collagen, such as glycolic acid, azelaic acid,
and lactic acid. Skin care produ cts with these acids in higher concentration
will cause some peeling and should be used under the supervision of a
skilled s kin care specialist. Milder revitalizing treatments can be applied at
home using readily available natural products. Y ogurt, lemon juice, and grape fruit juice can have a mild stimulating
ef fect. Fresh yogurt can be applied directly to your skin and left on for five
minutes before rinsing. Dilute le mon juice or grapefruit juice with an equal
part of aloe vera juice and apply to the skin. Leave on for two minutes and
then rinse. If your skin is oily, you can do this every day. If your skin tends
to be dry or reactive, dilute the  solution further and use every  second or
third day. REPLENISHAfter cleansing and revitalizing, the skin needs to be replenished. Use a
pure veg etable or nut oil to which a few drops of an essential flo wer or herb
oil has been add ed. T ry mixing almond, jojoba, avocado, or sunflower oil
with ros e, lavender, sandalwood, jasmine, geranium, or lemon essential oils. Apply a small a mount and allow it to be absorbed naturally. Use more if
your skin is on the dry side. Sou rce books on natural beauty ca re are listed
in the references for this chapter. SUN PROTECTION
Always use sunscreen when you  are outdoors. Ultraviolet radiation leads to
collagen damage, wrinkling, and skin cancer. Prevention is much better than
cure, so be awa re of the potentially damaging ef fects of sun on your skin. This is particularly important if you live in a hot climate or at higher
altitudes. T each your children to use sunscreen to prevent unnecessary skin
problems later in their lives. Every day in every way,
I am incr easing my mental and physical capacity. My Biostat is set at a healthy ____ years of age. I look and feel a healthy ____ years old. I am r eversing my biological age:
By changing my per ception of my body, its aging and time;
Thr ough two kinds of deep r est—r estful awar eness and  r estful sleep;
By nurturing my body thr ough healthy foods;
By using nutritional complements wisely;
By enhancing mind/body integration;
Thr ough exer cise; andBy eliminating toxins fr om my life. 9
Y ou Can Reverse Y our
Biological Age by Cultivating
Flexibility and Creativity
in Consciousness
 
ACTION STEP # 8
I am  r eversing my biological ag e by cultivating flexibility and  cr eativity in
my consciousness. I put flexibility into practice by:
Learning to let go when things don’ t seem to go my way. Practicing the wisdom of uncertainty—not being attached to outcome
and letting go of the need to control. Learning to for give by relinquishing grievances, resent ments,and
r egr ets. I put cr eativity into practice by:
Learning the nine-step cr eative r esponse. Applying the cr eative r esponse to all the challenges and/or problems in
my life. Helping others to solve their problems by teaching them the cr eative
r esponse. Aging is associated with rigidity and decay. Y outh is associated with flexibility and cr eativity. Both flexibility and cr eativity ar e learned behaviors. By cultivating flexibility and cr eativity in consciousness,
you r enew yourself in every moment and
r everse the aging pr ocess. An ancient V edic aphorism says,
“Infinite flexibility and cr eativity
ar e the secr ets to immortality. ”
 
Y ou can reverse your biological  age by cultivating flexibility an d creativity
in c onsciousnes s. When we consider growing older we usually think of
becoming less flexible and cre ative. Our language of aging reflects this
view. W e use expressions like “Y ou can’ t teach an old dog new  tricks,” or“I’m too old to change,” or “He’ s just too set in his ways. ” In b oth modern
and V edic sciences, the loss of flexibility and creativity is a result of
increasing inertia, entropy, and disorder in the body/mind system. According to V edic theory there  are three fundamental forces a t work in
the universe: Sattwa, Rajas, and T amas. Sattwa is the force of creativity,
evolution, and transformation. T amas is the force of stability, resistance, and
inertia. Rajas is the tension between the forces of creativity and inertia. As
children and adolescents we are dominated by change, flexibility, and
creativity and have a preponder ance of natural Sattwa. Our bra ins and our
behavior reflect our tremendous  capability to expand, adapt, transform, and
evolve and our willingness and  desire to experience and learn new things. As adult s we see the rise of Rajas. This is a result of the everyday stresses
of life and our attachment to outcomes, as we seek to prove ourselves in the
world. A s we age we become increasingly concerned about s ecurity and
stability and T amas begins to predominate. This stability is refl ected in our
behaviors and in the connections between the neurons in our brains. Stability leads to stagnation, s tagnation leads to decay, decay leads to
disorder and entropy, and ultimately to death. Death i s the soul’ s response to the loss of flexibility. When your
physiology has lost the flexibi lity and creativity to further i ntegrate the
ener gy and information of your life experiences, the soul goes into
incubation. Acc ording to V edic wisdom, when the soul needs t o digest the
experiences of a lifetime, it first incubates and then takes a qu antum leap
into a new context and a new body/mind. In Eastern wisdom traditions this
is the process of reincarnation—incarnating into a new life experience. Rather than waiting for death to take a quantum leap into a new life
experience, why  not take the quantum leap while you are alive. This way
you can incarnate (literally reincarnate) on an ongoing basis. This requires
learning two basic and fundamental behavior patterns: (1) flexibility, which
comes from letting go, and (2) cr eativity, which involves intention,
incubation, and incarnation. By learning to incorporate flexibility and
creativity as your evolving behavioral pattern, you will master on a daily
basis wh at most  people have to  literally die for—to incarnate a nd create anew bod y/ mind. Let’ s explore t hese two qualities that are the foundation of
eternal youth. By cultivating flexibility and cr eativity in consciousness,
you r enew yourself in every moment and r everse the
aging pr ocess. Flexibility
The essence of flexibility is  the willingness to let go. Surveys of
centenarians (people who have lived at least one hundred years ) often ask,
“What d o you believe are the reasons that account for your long and healthy
life. Is it your d iet. Have you been exercising your whole life. Have you
avoided tobacco. Do you drink alcohol. ” The intent of these questions, of
course, is to identify common principles that could help us all live longer,
healthier lives. Surprisingly, none of these questions clearly reveals the
secret to longevity. The most common explanation that our most senior
citizens of fer for their long life is their ability to let go. Long-living people have flexibility and resiliency when facing the
inevitable challenges in life. If y ou live to be a hundred years old, chances
are goo d you have experienced challenges and losses, yet these super
seniors have been able to move through adversity and get on with their
lives. They relinquish their hol d on experiences that do not serve them. They let go and move on. From a n A yurvedic perspecti ve, this ability to deal with what is
happening but not incur residua l damage is a symptom of strong digestive
power, known in Sanskrit as Agni. The expression “digestive power” is
applied not just to the ability to digest foods but to digest all experiences in
life. Agni is the root of the English word ignite, referring to the power of
fire to metabolize things. When your digestive force is power ful, you arecapable of extracting the nourishment you need from any experience and
eliminating whatever is not serving you. A strong Agni enables you to
digest what life presents without carrying unprocessed residues, which
inhibit your ability to fully embrace life. A strong digestive power is an
essential feature of people who live long, vital lives. Learning to let go is necessary because life is a process of continual
change and transformation. Att empting to stop change by ho lding on is
fighting the natural force of evolution. Ultimately, nature will h ave its way,
and your struggle against the river of life will exact its toll on your
physiology. Th e wear and te ar born of resistance accelerates aging. Relinquishing your resistance and embracing change reverses aging. Learning to let go does not mean relinquishing your intentio ns. Y our
intentions and desires orchestra te the course of your life and catalyze the
experiences you  need to evolve to higher levels of awareness. Flexibility
does not require letting go of intentions. Flexibility does, however, require
letting g o of your attachment to a specific outcome. Y ou cannot control the
outcome of a si tuation, and holding rigidly to your idea about how things
should b e leads to strain, stress, and aging. Whenever it appears that your
intended outcome is not the one manifesting, bear in mind the following
expression, which we heard from a spiritual teacher:
When things don’ t seem to go my way, I let go of my
attachment to how I think they should be, trusting that 
I am not seeing the big pictur e. If I knew the big pictur e 
I would understand that ther e is a r eason for things
unfolding the way they ar e, and that the cosmos has a
plan for me much grander than anything I have conceived. Letting go and d etaching from outcome is the essence of genuine power
and of fers the on ly real possibility of security. Detachment from  a particular
outcome derive s from trust in the intelligence of the universe and your
connection to it. It implies a will ingness to step into the unknow n—the fieldof al l po ssibilities. This is the re al meaning of flexibility. Attachment to the
known is attachment to the pas t. The past is stability. The past is inertia. The past is entr opy. The past is stagnation. Attachment to th e known—
attachment to the past—accelerates aging. Most people spend their entir e lives seeking security through their
attachments. Attachments are usually to positions and possessions. Because
these att achments rarely bring security or happiness, people often believe
their pro blem is that they need greater positions or more possessions. The
internal conversation sounds like this: “If I just had more money. if I just
had a better job. if I just ha d a more passionate relationship. then I
would fe el secure and happy. ” M oney, positions, possession, and titles are
symbols of security. Symbols of security cannot substitute for real security,
which can only come from within. Paradoxically, finding genuine and lasting security comes from
surrendering to the wisdom of uncertainty. It means cultivating an inner
attitude of curiosity and acceptance. It means detaching from a particular
outcome and developing the mind-set that whatever occurs is the most
evolutionary out come at the tim e. This state of flexibility, in which you are
able to embrace the unknown and detach from a particular outcome,
reverses the aging process. Relinquishing your r esistance and embracing change
r everses aging. PRESENT -MOMENT A W ARENESS
The Buddhists have an expression: “Nothing should be clung to as me or
mine. ” Nothing you identify wi th can really be called yours. Although you
may con sider th e physical vehicle you inhabit as your body, you know by
now that every atom comprising it is only on temporary loan from yourenvironment. W ithin a year, alm ost every atom that you currently call yours
will no longer b e within the boundaries of your skin. Y our thoughts are not
really yo ur thou ghts. They are p art of the collective mind. A hundred years
ago, you could not have had the thought “I am flying on a 747 jet to Las
V egas,” because  these concepts were not yet a part of the collective mind. Y our emotions are not your emo tions. Every emotion you have ever had—
elation, despair, joy, frustration, ecstasy, jealousy—has been experienced by
people s ince the  beginning of hu manity. Not a single molecule, not a single
thought, not a si ngle emotion you have ever had is uniquely yours. Y ou are
part of a lar ger scheme. Y ou ar e woven from a few strands in the infinite
cosmic web of ener gy, transformation, and intelligence. “Nothing should be clung to as me or mine. ” Underlying this pre scription
is the recognition that all stress in life results from either grasping or
aversion. When you hold on to anything, be it a material object, a position,
or a relationship, you constrict your awareness and accelerate aging. Y ou
accelerate aging because, at a su btle level, every attachment is accompanied
by fear—fear of loss, fear of losing control, fear of losing approval. When
you evoke fear you set into motion the physiology of stress that accelerates
biological aging. Y ou must let go of this fear in order to reverse aging. The incl ination of the mind is to lean toward something that you hope
will brin g pleas ure or away fro m something that you fear will  bring pain. As a  res ult of this tendency, of t his inclination, you are unable t o remain in
the present moment. When y ou find yourself out of t he present moment, ask yourself, “What
is w rong with this moment. ”  Y ou will see that there are only two
possibilities: either you are resisting it or you are just not in it. If you are
resisting it, consciously surrender to the here and now. If you are just not in
it, gently  bring yourself back to the present. Open yourself to the infinite
possibilities that the present moment of fers. Y ou can cultivate present-mome nt awareness through the practice of alert
witnessing—shifting your attention from that which is observed to the silentever -present witness to the observation. In the midst of observation, come
back to the self. Y our observations change on a moment-to-moment basis. If you identify
who you are wi th your observations, your identity has no permanence. It
becomes a moment-to-moment fabrication. When you identi fy yourself
with the objects of your perception, which are in constant flux, you sacrifice
your tru e self for the objects of your self-image. If you identify yourself as
the presi dent of a company, as the owner of a luxury car, as the manager of
an a rtist or mu sician, your sense of self is dependent upon an external
source. This is sometimes kno wn as agency power because your power
derives from attachment to an external agency, be it an or ganization, bank
account, or relationship. The problem with agency power is th at when the
attachment ends, so does the power and your sense of self. The opposite of agency power  is self-power, which comes fr om your
inner connection to Spirit. Underlying all your observations and
experiences in life, underlying all your attachments to people, situations,
and circ umstances, is a domain of ever -present witnessing awareness. This
is your true self; this is your Spirit. In alert witnessing you shift your attention from goal orientation to
process orientation. Y ou become  completely flexible. Y ou are unattached to
outcome. Y ou are comfortable in the realm of uncertainty. When Spirit is
your int ernal ref erence point you neither anticipate nor resist—you simply
allow. When you walk a certain road, you have the intention to reach a
particular desti nation, but if more interesting opportunities present
themselves alon g the way, then  have the flexible inner attitude  to go with
the flow. This process can be s ummed up in one statement, “T ake it as it
comes. ” The process becomes the goal. Whenever you find yourself grasping or recoiling, anticipating or
resisting, shift your attention to your witnessing self. In this simple process
of coming back to the self, you return to the present moment. The present
moment is the doorway to the field of infinite possibilities. The presentmoment is characterized by infinite flexibility. Living in present-moment
awareness reverses the aging process. When you evoke fear you set into motion the physiology
of str ess that accelerates biological aging. Y ou must 
let go of this fear in or der to r everse aging. FORGIVENESS
The grea t V edic scholar Eknath Easwawan tells a poignant story. At the end
of a lifet ime, a person’ s soul goes to a plane of existence where each life is
reviewed. The soul enters a the ater in which a movie of the r ecent life is
playing. The soul begins watch ing the movie but often has to turn away
because of terribly uncomforta ble scenes. Sins of omission and sins of
commission cramp the heart, and the scene becomes too painf ul to watch. As a result of n ot being able to watch the complete movie, im portant life
lessons are missed, and the soul must reincarnate to learn them in the next
lifetime. According to this story, the primary cause for not being able to watch the
painful scenes of life is a lack of for giveness—for others and for oneself. For giveness is the essence of let ting go. It means relinquishing attachments
to t he past and  clearing encumbrances that constrict the heart. These
constrictions are  the source of inertia, entropy, and aging. Release them to
grow younger. T ry this simple exercise:
Close your eyes, bring your atte ntion into your heart and ask if you are
holding on to any grievances, hostilities, resentments, or regrets. If any
come to mind, ask what occurred that led to the blockage in your heart. Then, ask what needs to occur now in order to release these t oxins. Look
for t he g ift that every life experience of fers, even painful ones, and express
your gratitude for the experience. Remember this beautiful expres sion from A Course in Miracles and refer
to it often: “Every decision I make is a choice between a grievance and a
miracle. ”
W e encourage you to choose a miracle. When things do not go  the way
you think they s hould, you could indulge in self-pity. Y ou cou ld complain
and gripe that life isn’ t fair. Y ou could lament about what y ou are not
getting and make yourself and everyone around you miserable. Or you
could se e the situation as anothe r opportunity for surrender, flexibility, and
expansion. Grievances, hostilities, resentments, and regrets become
festering emotional wounds that accelerate aging. For give and for get and
you will reverse the aging process. BREAKING HABITUAL P A TTERNS
It’ s easy  to become trapped in habitual patterns that do not ser ve you well
and promote inflexibility. Therefore it is very helpful to consciously
cultivate flexibility by relinquis hing things in your life and creating new
patterns of thinking and behaving. Practicing flexibility creates flexibility in
your nervous system by challenging your brain cells to make new
associations. The neurons in your nervous system and the cho ices in your
life are engaged  in a continuou s feedback loop. In your willin gness to try
new things, your neural networks become more flexible and o pen to new
perceptions, interpretations, and choices, which in turn support new
interneuronal connections. Here are a few suggestions of things you can do to break ou t of your
habitual behavioral patterns. T ry them for a week and observe what happens
to your body and mind. Change your diet
Change your exercise programChange your route to work
Change your bedtime
Meditate longer
Buy dif ferent clothing
W ear new colors
Listen to dif ferent kinds of music
Stop wearing a watch
W ear your watch on the other wrist
Go out to lunch with someone new
T ry a new restaurant
Change your opinion about something or someone
Call a friend you haven’ t spoken to in years
Answer the phone dif ferently
Change your voice mail message
Read a book that you usually wouldn’ t consider
W atch a dif ferent television show
Listen to a dif ferent radio station
T ake a new class
Let go of old ways and you w ill feel renewed. Learning to be flexible
means le arning t o access the mo st flexible domain of your being — the field
of t imeless awareness underly ing your mind and body. Th is realm offlexibility is the basis of growing younger. Immerse yourself in this field of
infinite flexibilit y on a daily basis through meditation. Have th e conscious
intention to think and act flexibly. Practice letting go whenever holding on
is no longer serving you. Cr eativity
Once you have cultivated flexib ility you are ready for creativ ity. W ithout
flexibility there can be no creativity. According to Amit Goswami, author of
Quantum Cr eativity, creativity is a discontinuous, nonalgorithmic quantum
jump from one pattern of thinking into a completely new o ne. It is a
quantum leap— a paradigm shift— from one pattern to anot her without
progressing through incremental steps in between. All the great creative
advances in the worlds of art, music, architecture, or science represent new
leaps of imagina tion that could not have been predicted on the basis of the
prevailing patterns. Once the creative leap is made, be it Einstein’ s theory
of re lativity, Picasso’ s cubism, o r music by the Beatles, the world is forever
changed. Y ou are by nature a creative being, although you may no longer think of
yourself this way. As a child you had a rich imagination, w hich is the
source of all creativity. Y our youthful flexibility and present-moment
awareness allowed for new perceptions and interpretations on an ongoing
basis. Y ou were capable of cre ating entire worlds with your i magination,
whether it was building sand castles at the beach or playing with your
make-believe fa mily of dolls. T oday, the very fact that you are alive is
evidence of your creativity, for you are co-creating your reality every
moment. Y ou are creating a new body/mind with every impulse of
experience and every breath you take. Learn to reawaken your creative
response and you will recapture the ener gy and enthusiasm of youth. In
addition to helping you grow younger, the creative process can be applied to
healing, relationships, the arts, and business. T AKING A CREA TIVE LEAP
Creativity is the process of takin g the raw ener gy, information, a nd material
of th e universe and transforming it into something that has never been
created before. Whether you are creating an original work of art, a new
piece of music, a unique software program, or a healing response to an
illness, creativity requires a leap in awareness. If you are improving on
something that already exists, that is innovation. Creativity brings
something into existence that has never been here before. There are nine b asic steps to the creative response. Become con scious of
these steps and use the creative response whenever you are facing an issue
or ch allenge in y our life. Y ou h ave unlimited creative potential  that can be
used to solve any problem you are facing. Intended Outcome
The first step of the creative response is to have a clear intended
outcome. Y ou must have a clear vision of  what it is that you want to have
unfold. If you are not certain about what you want, you are  unlikely to
fulfill yo ur needs. State your in tended outcome in clear positive language:
“I h ave a health y body with abundant ener gy. ” “My intimate r elationships
are l oving and nurturing. ” A void defining your intentions in ter ms of what
you don’ t want. Rather than saying “I want to leave this dreadful job,” state
your int ention as “I have a position that enables me to express my full
potential. ”
W rite down your intentions and review them regularly to be certain that
they ref lect your current desires. Although living in a state of flexibility
implies not being attached to a particular outcome, it is still e ssential that
you have unambiguous intentions. Formulate a clear intention and be
detached from the outcome. Information Gathering
The second step is information gathering. In this stage, learn everything
that is available about the issue you are facing. Become an expert on the
challenge that confronts you, recognizing that your particular variation is
unique. Read books, do research, use the Internet, explore spiritual
literature, go to lectures, participate in workshops, speak with friends and
family. G ather i nformation from  every possible source without judging or
filtering. Pay attention to the sensations in your body as you learn what
others have to say about your issue, noting which approaches feel
comfortable for you and which feel uncomfortable. Information Reshuffling and Information Analysis
As y ou gather in formation, your mind will digest what you are  learning,
formatting the information in ways that are useful to you. This process of
information r eshuffling takes place on both conscious  and subconscious
levels. The data is analyzed looking for patterns that can provide clues to a
new understanding of the issue. Incubation
The fourth step is incubation. In incubation, you allow your awareness to
settle in to a more expanded state of consciousness through meditation. Incubation is the stage of surren der. Having formed your intention, gathered
and resh uf fled t he information you obtained, the next step is to go beyond
the r ational mind and access a deeper domain of awareness to  orchestrate
the fulfillment of your intentio n. Use the So Hum meditatio n technique
described in Chapter 3 to quiet and expand your mind. Review your
intention for a few moments before you begin meditation and then let go. Letting go allows for something entirely new to arise in your awareness—
something that you had not conceived of before. Insight
When th e condit ions are right, y ou will experience the fifth step, which is
insight. Insight results from the rearranging of the previous relationships
and meanings into an entirely  new context, which then allows for an
entirely new interpretation. Insight is the creative leap— your perception
and interpretation of the issue c ompletely shifts. This new inner vision is
the esse nce of the creative re sponse. It precipitates from a domain of
awareness that is nonlocal. The  process of meditation allows y ou to enter
into this nonlocal domain that exists for eternity in the gaps between your
thoughts. When  you are able to go beyond your ideas about how things
should be, gaining access to thi s deeper domain, something unprecedented
emer ges. This is insight. Inspiration
When th e insight occurs, it spontaneously generates inspiration. The
level of enthusia sm that wells u p when insight dawns is a good barometer
that the insight is a real creative leap. When you really see things in a new
light, yo ur entire mind/body becomes ener gized. Y ou know in your mind
that your insight is true and you  feel in your body that the insi ght is right. Passion, exhilaration, excitement, joy, and enthusiasm are all si gns that the
insight that arose while you were incubating will solve your problem and
fulfill your intention. Implementation, Integration, Incarnation
It is now  your task to translate th e insight into action. Now that you know
what is necessar y to fulfill your intention, do it. Make the change, take the
step, and implement the a ction to actualize the creat ive response. Integrate
the c hange into your life. As yo u integrate and implement the insight into
your thin king and behavior, you incarnate it in your body. It becomes a par t
of you, and as a result you are a new person. Y ou have taken a creative leap
and have become a new body/mind. Ar chimedes, the Ar chetypal Cr eative Response
Archimedes was the greatest mathematician of his time. A third-century
B. C. native of S yracuse, Sicily, he was asked by King Hiero to determine if
the crow n that was made for him was of pure gold (Intention). Archimedes
knew th at if he c ould calculate the density of the crown he would be able to
determine if any other metals had been added (Information gathering). He
knew that density was weight ( mass) divided by volume. He could weigh
the crown on a scale, but due to its irregular shape, he did not know how to
find its precise volume. After considering this problem conti nuously for
days (Information r eshuffling), he was convinced by his servant to let the
puzzle g o for a little while and take a warm bath (Incubation). As he was
lowering himsel f into the tub, he noticed that his body displaced an amount
of water  equal to his volume. This led to the idea (Insight) that he could
calculate the density of the cr own by determining how much water it
displaced. He was so exuberant about his discovery (Inspiration) that
legend has it he ran through the streets of Syracuse shouting  “Eureka. ,”
which in Greek means “I’ve fou nd it. ” As it turned out, the metalsmith had
diluted the gold with silver. As a n e xample of how this might work on a personal level, consider a
woman who is in constant turmoil because her spouse is not meeting her
expectations. In  her mind, he spends too much time alone or on the phone
with friends and colleagues. As a result of her distress and anxiety she has
been eating more, gaining weight, and losing her self-esteem. She dec ides to apply this nine-s tep creative process by first formulating
her i ntention, which is to feel se cure, appreciated, and loved. She makes the
commitment to read several pop ular books on relationships and is exposed
to a num ber of new perspectives. She learns meditation, which  she begins
practicing regularly. During a particularly deep sitting, she has the insight
that she has really been m issing her friends, and her resentment stems fr om
her husband’ s experiencing som ething that she would like for herself. She
becomes inspire d by the idea and makes plans to visit an old college
roommate in another town. Sh e so enjoys the few days that her entireattitude about her life complete ly shifts. She begins exercising and eating
better and all her relationships, including her marriage, improve. By s etting up the conditions th at allowed her to experience a  creative
quantum leap, she was able to access life ener gy that was  previously
unavailable to her. This ability to experience new creative solu tions to old
problems is the essence of flexibility and a key component of re versing the
aging process. OPPOR TUNITIES FOR CREA TIVITY
Use the nine-step process every  time you perceive a problem or challenge
in yo ur l ife. See  every challenge as an opportunity for creativity. When you
see ever y problem as an opportunity to practice the creative responses, you
will look forward to and be excited by the challenges in your life. Help ot hers to solve their pr oblems by teaching them the creative
response. T each and use the creative response at work and in your home
life. T ea ch your children how to  perceive their challenges as opportunities
for crea tivity. Flexibility and creativity are the keys to e volutionary
progress. Even in Darwinian te rms, those who are able to adapt survive. Adaptation first requires flexi bility, then creativity. Every evolutionary
jump is a quantum leap in creativity. When you cultivate fle xibility and
practice the creative response you will notice how much younger, more
flexible, and more adaptable you become.
Meditating regularly and avoiding toxic substances and emotions.
What is the first step in releasing toxic habits?
Divide your weight in pounds by two and drink that many ounces of water per day.
How can you increase your daily water intake?
Letting go of attachments and embracing change, and recognizing that love is essential for life.
What is the secret to longevity, according to Vedic wisdom?
Cultivating flexibility and creativity in consciousness, as well as a willingness to let go of attachments and negativity.
What is the key to reversing the aging process?
Unity is the ultimate truth of all existence, and love is the key to accessing this unity and reversing the aging process.
What is the ultimate truth of existence, according to spiritual traditions?