The Problem – The New Four Ages of Man (Apologies to W. Shakespeare)
- 0 to 25 years – Wet behind the ears
- 25 to 50 – Grunt – Career and Family
- 50 to 75 – Is that all there is…?
- 75 to 100 – Yippee! I’ve made it this far! There are so many things that I have to get done in the next 25 years! (providing my health stays good…).
The proviso is the kicker. So many reach the age of 75 (if they make it), in terrible shape. Barely able to walk, breathing a chore, and starting to lose mental focus. Some of this is due to bad luck – genes, accidents – but a surprising amount of it is due to life-style choices, which are reversible.
I developed a tendency to asthma in my 50s, and looking around for an alternative to a lifetime on asthma medication I tried the Buteyko Breathing Method, teaching myself out of a book. It worked so well for me that I went to England and took a course on learning to teach the method from an instructor trained by Dr. Buteyko in Moscow.
I have practiced it myself, taken additional courses, and taught the odd client over the last 20+ years, incorporating material from many other sources such as the Alexander Method to create a program for holistic health, for which I’ve been the principal lab-rat. For several years I’ve been planning to put it all into a book or collection of online tutorials, and now I have more free time I’m actively working on it. I’m 77 and the practices described in the program seem to be working for me. I hope they will for you as well.
Buteyko-Plus™ – A Program for Staying Healthy and Happy into Old Age.
This will be a subscription site eventually, but I’d love to have as many volunteers as possible to participate during the development phase. Anyone (over 40, male or female) interested in participating, please sign up or email me – dermod.wood@gmail.com – for more information. I really need feedback from a wide range of people, as to what works for them. Following is the outline of the program:
Buteyko-Plus™ Program Outline
- Introduction – The Buteyko-Plus™ Program
- Buteyko Breathing
- Exercise
- Nutrition and Weight Control
- Rest and Sleep
- Mental/Emotional Health
- Preventative Maintenance
Regards / Derm
“You are old, Father William,” the young man said,
“And your hair has become very white;
And yet you incessantly stand on your head—
Do you think, at your age, it is right?”“In my youth,” Father William replied to his son,
“I feared it might injure the brain;
But now that I’m perfectly sure I have none,
Why, I do it again and again.”
Lewis Carroll