Stay Healthy, Live Long--人瑞談養生／人瑞劉鏡寰 人生七分飽

Etta, a former student who is studying Chinese medicine in the States now, once told me on the phone that the best person we can turn to for good advice on staying healthy is not the doctor, but the centenarian.  Here is one.

http://mag.udn.com/mag/life/storypage.jsp?f_MAIN_ID=211&f_SUB_ID=3373&f_ART_ID=412123

人瑞談養生／人瑞劉鏡寰 人生七分飽

【聯合報／記者紀文禮／南投縣報導】
2012/09/12

「一聲『阿彌』走一步，再一聲『陀佛』又走一步。」一一三歲全台最高壽的人瑞劉鏡寰，昨天輕聲細語笑著說：「常念佛、多讀經，就是最好的養生之道。」

My comments: I guess she means staying peaceful without too much desire.

民前十二年三月十七日出生的劉鏡寰，卅多歲出家為尼，法號「道永」。她出家前已婚，丈夫還是將軍，後來虔誠學佛，一九六五年間到埔里鎮佛光寺長修，前年八月才因生活自理吃力，加上佛寺濕氣重，在孫女、孫女婿堅持下，搬到到埔里市區懷恩養護中心接受照顧。

從年輕就習慣過午不食的劉鏡寰，到養護中心前都是每天只吃一餐，現在三餐正常，最愛的食物是餅乾配牛奶，有什麼吃什麼，不挑剔，只吃七分飽。她說，人生就像吃飯，只要七分飽，一切隨緣，不強求；凡事不求滿，就不會過頭，傷神傷身。

My comments: The golden mean is the best policy.  Here is a definition of the term from Wikipedia:

In philosophy, especially that of Aristotle, the golden mean is the desirable middle between two extremes, one of excess and the other of deficiency. For example courage, a virtue, if taken to excess would manifest as recklessness and if deficient as cowardice.

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_mean_(philosophy))

The following is an article from Discovery News:

http://news.discovery.com/human/centenarian-advice-on-a-long-life.html

Centenarian Advice on a Long Life

Analysis by Benjamin  Radford Wed Feb 2, 2011 07:13 PM ET

A few days ago Besse Cooper of Monroe, Ga., became  the oldest  person in the world. Cooper, at 114 years and 5 months, took the mantle when  another 114-year-old woman died.

People have always been fascinated by extremes of age, and Cooper’s  achievement made international news. When we periodically hear news of an  extraordinarily old person, one question that invariably comes up is: “How did  you get to be so old?”

The obvious answer -- “I didn’t die” -- is unsatisfying and journalistically  uninteresting. So usually the old person tries helpfully to answer the question  by offering advice. Cooper attributed her longevity to good food and not being  nosy: “I mind my own business and I don't eat junk food,” she said.

Do Free Radicals  Really Cause Aging?

Another woman, 104-year-old Helen  Fox, of Albuquerque, N.M., told the Albuquerque Journalthat “the  secret to staying young is having a positive attitude and keeping up with local  politics.”

Other secrets to longevity often shared by centenarians include regular  church attendance, eating vegetables, having beloved pets, and a cheerful  attitude. (I’d love to hear a soft-spoken elderly gentleman tell a reporter on  his 105th birthday that his secret to a long life was occasional drug use,  atheism and casual sex.)

The implicit message in such advice is clear: If you follow my example, you  too can get to be as old as I am.

It is, of course, mostly a polite fiction.

Few of the very old mention the two biggest influences on their long lives: luck and genetics. Genes play a huge role in determining how long you will live,  and what diseases you may get. There are perfectly fit triathletes who die at  age 30 from accident or disease, and chain-smoking, alcoholic curmudgeons who  live well into their 90s.

This is not to say that people can’t significantly increase their chances of  living a long, healthy life. They certainly can, but there’s no secret to it. Cardiovascular diseases are the number one killer in the world, and decades of  research shows that there are well-known, proven ways to greatly reduce your  risk.

The irony is that for as fascinated as we are by extreme old age, and for as  concerned as we claim to be about our health, most people choose unhealthy lifestyles. We tell ourselves (and others) that we want to live long, healthy  lives, but when it comes to actually doing anything to make that happen (such as  losing weight, exercising or quitting smoking), most of us can’t be  bothered.

My comments: This means if one wants to live a long, healthy life, one needs to be well-disciplined?

Walking Speed  Could Predict Lifespan in Seniors

It’s great that anyone can live to a ripe old age. If you want to do the  same, diet and exercise will get you a lot further than minding your own  business and being cheerful -- no matter what the centenarians say.