BOOK REPORT: Ageless Body, Timeless Mind
Ageless Body
Timeless Mind
Deepak Chopra
“A Practical Alternative to Growing Old”
Overview: Dr Deepak Chopra has combined a deep knowledge of both western medical science and eastern philosophy to challenge our perceptions of aging. Instead of preconditioned apathetic acceptance to “getting old” we are able to decide and influence how our body and mind will move through time, “successful aging”.
How to -
I don’t want a lot of detail - Read the “bottom line” and “practice”
I like some detail - read this doc top to bottom
I like all of the details - read this doc and get the book :)
Part One
The Land Where No One is Old
Practice: how to reinterpret your body
Outline
We have been taught to expect and succumb to old age, fragility, senility, infirmity, disease and pain
Your body is aging beyond your control because it has been programmed to live out the rules of our collective conditioning
To create the experience of ageless body and timeless mind you must discard the old paradigm
The skin replaces itself once a month, stomach lining every 5 days, liver every 6 weeks, skeleton every 3 months. By the end of this year 98% of the atoms in your body will have been exchanged for new ones.
We must find the control switch that manipulates the body’s inner intelligence
Power of placebo proves that if we trigger the intention now to age, the body would carry it out automatically (aging in the sense of disease, fragility etc not exactly staying 20 years old)
Every cell in your body is totally aware of how you think and feel about yourself. Once you accept that fact, the whole illusion of being victimised by a mindless, randomly degenerating body falls away.
Being able to experience the present free from the past or future is the experience of ageless body timeless mind. - read pg 31
Shift from time bound awareness into timeless awareness. Form a relationship with your “programmer” to bring consciousness into your experience with time
Practice - Statements to redefine yourself:
I can use the power of my awareness to experience a body that is flowing instead of solid
Flexible instead of rigid
Quantum “ “ material
Dynamic “ “ static
Timeless “ “ time bound
The Bottom Line - Discard the old paradigm of aging - “it happens to us there is nothing we can do”. Make the shift to “timeless awareness” where you place your attention and intention into how you will choose to age.
Part Two
Aging and Awareness
Practice: how to use the power of awareness
Outline
Awareness has the power to change aging, but it can both heal and destroy. Train awareness toward self enhancing behaviour
Your awareness is much more powerful than any single thought you might ever have - “whatever is flexible and flowing will tend to grow, whatever is rigid and blocked will wither and die” _ Tao Te Ching
Belief creates biology. Our inherited expectation that the body must wear out plus deep belief of growing old = biological phenomenon we call aging - read pg 58 to detail belief of aging
The 3 parts of age: 1. Chronological - calendar (fixed but most unreliable) 2. Biological - how old your body is in terms of critical life signs and cellular processes (how has time affected you - can be changed, exercise healthy choices etc) 3. Psychological - how old you feel you are (the most personal and mysterious - holds the most promise)
Nurturing your inner life uses the power of awareness to defeat aging at its core
Adaptability is a key trait to develop - the aging process is learned. People with good mental habits teach their bodies to age well. Depressed, insecure and unhappy people teach their bodies to age badly
When you withdraw your awareness from your mind and body (let the conditioning/belief of aging go to work unconsciously) the physiological processes slip out of control
To stimulate one cell is to stimulate all. When a person decides to give up physical activity he is essentially invites his entire physiology to atrophy
The parts of the body that age (losing structure) are not just the ones that are not being used enough (losing function); the person has also withdrawn their awareness of them
Old habits/conditioning is destructive because it blocks new patterns from existing. Therefore conditioned awareness is synonymous with slow dying - by increasing your awareness you bring in a new focus, break old patterns and alter aging - read pg 92
Awareness is used as a healing power. It restores balance wherever it is allowed to flow freely
Practice - Using the power of awareness
Body tense and relax exercise - scrunch/tense your toes and then relax - feel into each sensation. Move through your whole body tensing fingers, shoulder, glutes etc focusing your awareness on both the tensing and the relaxing
The power of intention - “the active partner of attention” - warm palm exercise
Every intention is a trigger for transformation - Using vivid memory and imagery (from a young, vibrant time) you can duplicate the body chemistry of youth. Set a daily intention - eg: I intend to remain at the most youthful physical and mental level of functioning possible. Or Today I intend to experience more energy, more alertness, more youthful enthusiasm. NOTE - be aware of feedback, notice each day what becomes easier etc
The Bottom Line - Where you place your awareness counts. Stay focused on how you treat and nurture your body through movement and exercise. Stay flexible and adaptable, mentally, stay open to the new way of aging and personal growth.
Part Three
Defeating Entropy
Practice: the wisdom of uncertainty
Every cell knows how to defeat entropy by bringing intelligence to the rescue whenever disorder begins to intrude. DNA can self repair. Life expectancy = how well your DNA can repair. Humans have the fastest genetic-repair rate known. Older cells repair themselves much less effectively than younger ones
The activity inside your cells is directly influenced by how you think and act. You are talking to your DNA via the chemical messages sent from your brain.
One of the simplest ways to prevent entropy is to give the body something to do. Exercise both mentally and physically. Exercise can reverse the previous effects of entropy
Muscle mass and strength is critical, building muscle late in life old people can significantly rejuvenate their whole physiology - loss of lean body mass accelerates after age 45
Moderation + Regularity + Rest + Activity = Balance
Words/thoughts count - the lemon test - The mind body system organises itself around verbal experiences. We literally create ourselves out of words - the messaging that young is beautiful, youth is the best part of life, old is boring and awful etc. False duality. Choose messages that sustain and nourish
Old people lose the ability to deal with stress (disease, grief, heat, stressful events etc) - the fault is not the stress it is the body’s coping mechanism at fault
3 stages of stress - 1. The stressful event 2. Your inner appraisal of it 3. Your body’s reaction to it
The VITAL part of the 3 steps is your appraisal of the stress (what do you make the event mean, the story you tell yourself) you have very little control of the other 2 steps.
Nobody thrives under consistent secretion of cortisol and adrenaline. These hormones function to break down tissue and extended release leads to disease
Stress appraisal is closely linked to memory and preconditioning. Our reaction fit our expectation
Develop strong sense of self so that you are robust in the face of uncertainty (stress)
Practice - The Wisdom Of Uncertainty
Release your need to relive past sorrows. Release yourself from emotional debt. Biologically your body is perfectly set up to live in the present and acquires its greatest joy and satisfaction there. Release control - stress always arises if you concentrate on how something HAS to turn out.
Create awareness of the meaning you give to events - why does it mean that? From what conditioning does that come from? Witness your responses you don’t have to “do” them you can witness them
Everyone is acting from their own level of consciousness - this is all we can ask of them and of ourselves. Forgiveness of others comes only when you can release your own hurt. Hurt comes from an interpretation of the event. You can live beyond interpretation in a state of witnessing. The present moment never ages
The Bottom Line - Understand what messages you are sending to your DNA, the cells in your body. Positive life habits send clear messages to your body on how you want to live. Create and practice good stress hygiene. Let go of the past, do not worry about future events that haven’t happened. Live in the present with a strong sense of self.
Part Four
The Science of Longevity
Practice: breath of life
Fasting is good - do not overeat
Exercise to increase/maintain muscle mass is a must
The whole is far more important than the parts. A person’s life determines the activity of your cells, not vice versa
DNA is influenced by your every thought, feeling, action. Stress hormones play a critical part in aging. They are regulated by RNA - DNA’s active twin. When you make a lifestyle change to reduce stress RNA in your cells responds by churning out fewer stress hormones
You can expect to survive with your memory and intelligence intact. Aging is associated with higher levels of wisdom. Stay open to learning and growth
Successful aging requires an avoidance of disease and a lifelong commitment to oneself everyday
We are constantly making and unmaking our bodies - we are constantly unfolding hidden potential
Set yourself the goal of active mastery - the long term purpose of your full potential at any stage of life. The harmony of mind, body and spirit. Active mastery is the road to freedom
Practice - Breath of Life
Prana - life force/Chi/life energy/breath of life
Increase awareness of Prana, conserve Prana with the following rules:
Diet - eat fresh produce. Prana rich foods are fresh/home grown
Exercise - increases Prana by bringing energy into the body - unless it goes to exhaustion
Breathing - main source of Prana is through breath. Refined slow regular breathing is best
Behaviour - life nourishing behaviours
Emotions - love is the closest to the source of life. Keep the flow open. All emotions have a linked breathing pattern
The Bottom Line - Successful aging is a commitment to self. The pursuit of personal mastery is a lifelong purpose that your mind and body responds very well to. When you have purpose you have life force.
Part Five
Breaking The Spell of Mortality
Practice: the timeless way
“When you say you fear death you are really saying that you fear you have not lived your true life.”
By seeing the fear for what it is you can turn it into a positive force
“Let your fear of death motivate you to examine your true worth and to heave a dream for your own life.”
What is your relationship with time?
Linear time - the clock. The time “out there”. Deadline/Time’s up/Time’s running out
Subjective time - time that exists only “in here” is a different matter. Subjective time reflects back to you how you view linear time. Is time running out for you? Do you have “no time for that” are you “time poor”
Connecting to the quantum level of consciousness unlocks an internal experience of timelessness
Everyone becomes their past BUT we also have the power to reverse the process. Free up frozen time (pent-up memories) that no longer serve us and prevent our happiness.
You are constantly making and unmaking your body at the quantum level. Revise your inner world
Timeless awareness: internal goals, freedom from time pressure, little thought of self image - action focused on present moment, reliance on intuition, selflessness
Efficient discharging of negative experiences, empties the mind of past or future concerns. Leaving the mind open to Being - the simplest state of awareness
Without stored stress, the aging process cannot gain a foothold
People exert much more choice over their aging and death than we are ready to acknowledge. We call ourselves victims of old age and death, the stark truth is that for many of us, growing old and dying offer the only escape from an unfulfilling life
Death can mean transformation it doesn’t have to be feared as inevitable, out of our control, to be deeply and enduringly grieved if we view it as an eternal flow
We can choose time - bound awareness - victim, aging, entropy, fatigue, fear, sorrow, death or we can choose timeless awareness - freedom, youthfulness, unbounded energy, expansion, harmony, joy
Practice - The Timeless Way
Experience silence - Silence is the great teacher
Spend time in nature - contact and connect with nature
Experience and trust your emotions - use a journal to track how often you feel core emotions
Remain centred amid chaos - practice breathwork and body connection
Be childlike - connect with a favoured childhood activity and do it
Being self referral - shake up your self image
Non attachment - become free of outside influences that overshadow your real self
Be love - where do you find bliss?
The Bottom Line - recreate your relationship with time. Practice effective stress reduction strategies. Redefine your view of death. Free yourself from the time bound restriction.