I don’t think getting compliments for looking younger will ever get old (pun intended)!
Personally, I probably feel the most confident at how I look at my current ripe age of 45 than I ever did in my 30s. I often get surprising looks when I tell people my age.
Skincare and aesthetic treatments can definitely slow down the ageing process but we mustn’t forget the simple solutions which are often not so sexy.
Want clearer glow-ier skin? We need to go under the hood and treat our skin inside out.
Want more balanced hormones? We need to go deeper on why it’s messing up in the first place (and no, we can’t blame it all on perimenopause and menopause).
Want to look more rejuvenated? We need to go beyond treatments and address things that are ageing us as well.
We can spend all the money in the world on skincare, supplements and treatments but if we don’t focus on improving our foundational pillars, we’ll always be chasing our tail.
Foundational pillars are:-
- Nutrition and our relationship with food.
- Movement and exercise
- Sleep and rest
- Managing stress and regulating our nervous system
- Handling our emotions and building resilience to what life throws at us
- Managing our energy (because none of us are getting any younger)
It’s simple and yet not always easy but possible with the right guidance.
In this blog, I wanted to share these simple solutions which I call my “Vital S”.
1. Sweating
Particularly aerobic exercises which leads to increased circulation and shown to stimulate new mitochondria (cellular battery packs) formation. Recent studies showed aerobic training improves skin elasticity and upper dermal structure.
Sweating also helps with detoxification, reducing water retention and puffiness.
There’s nuance to this of course. If you’re going to sweat loads, you want to make sure you’re hydrating and replacing salts in your system. Even more so if you have caffeine and alcohol which are both dehydrating to the skin.
2. Strength training
The same study showed strength training improved dermal thickness, providing more support and less ageing. Strength training also has a hormone-balancing effect and reduces circulating factors that are associated with skin ageing, slowing down the process.
When we age, hormonal decline causes our bone to absorb so our spine becomes shorter and our facial bones become flatter and more hollow, creating shadows under the eyes, less defined jawline, flatter cheeks and nose.
3. Slowing down
Ageing speeds up when our body is more in wear and tear. By reducing the pace of life and slowing down, we reduce and prevent the high circulation of stress hormone, cortisol which increases inflammation, collagen breakdown and hormonal imbalance.
High cortisol also affects us indirectly, disrupting our sleep, increasing sugar cravings, and reducing immunity.
Having recovered from 2 burnouts in my life, I can tell you slowing down is NOT EASY for a Type A person but it’s a skill worth learning. We speed up when we are more in our sympathetic nervous system because cortisol skews the perception of time so we feel there’s not enough time so we rush and rush.
When we rush, rush, rush, we only age, age, age.
4. Sleep
Sleep is one of the elixirs of youth. Our body detoxes and repairs when we sleep. Growth hormone is mainly released during sleep. It helps to maintain bone density, brain health, sugar balance, increase lean muscle and reduces fat.
5. Sustenance
We are not meant to starve! We need to eat enough nutritious food based on the lifestyle we have to sustain us, help us repair and anti-age. If we are not feeding our body enough, it will add to the extra stress, increasing cortisol and speeding up the ageing process.
This is especially important if you’re working out to lose weight and not taking in enough calories or protein. Our body then breaks down our muscle which causes us to age quicker.
6. Silly-ness
I know life can get heavy, boring or monotonous which is why we need to proactively find / be open to opportunities to laugh, play and have fun. This boost oxytocin, serotonin and dopamine, all the good hormones which relaxes our muscles, brings out the glow and opens up our face.
7. Stimulating your senses
When we feel disconnected to our body, we need to reconnect to ourselves. One of the best ways to do this is being aware and stimulating our 5 senses. Explore, experiment & enjoy the experience of feeling alive in the present. This boost the rest & repair parasympathetic nervous system which improves sleep, sugar regulation, helps us to slow down and reduce the stress hormone, cortisol.
8. Sex or snuggles
Nothing like a little nooky under the sheets to make us feel extra sexy. Learning to be comfortable with our body, making the most of what we got, loving and lavishing it with patience, praise and pleasure will light a fire within that we can’t help but to glow inside out.
9. Silence or Solitude
I find this even more important to cultivate as we grow older. This gives us space to reflect, integrate and ground ourselves which helps us relax, repair and rejuvenate.
10. Sunshine
Another elixir of youth. Do you notice how you come to life when the sun is out? It boosts Vitamin D production which is key for healthy skin, bones and hormones.
A little sun on your skin without sunscreen in the earlier parts of the day can go a long way.
Are you practicing these Vital Ss in your life?
Which area do you struggle with?
If you need support, check out my self-paced guides and programs.
Here’s to being more vital in our wiser years,
Dr Terry