Aging is the process of becoming older, a process that is genetically determined and environmentally modulated. Science cannot predict the duration of a human life. Genetics, too, fails, because a centenarian may not have a centenarian parent. According to Dr Chopra: “Aging is much more of a choice than people ever dream” and for that, it is essential to reinterpret the concept of body and realize the “changeless I” inside of us, which the ancient sages in India simply called the Self (Soham). He considers three distinct ways to measure someone’s age: “Chronological Age – how old you are by the calendar; Biological Age – how old your body is in terms of critical life signs and cellular processes, i.e., how time has affected your organs and tissues compared to other people of your chronological age; and Psychological Age – how old you feel you are.”
I have learnt that an individual is living three different age levels at the same time. A male of chronological age 50, would have biological age of 55 and mental age of 60 years. Out of three aging processes, mental is the worst one and most dominating therefore it drags the physical body to the age of mental being. Therefore a young man with advanced mental aging will develop speedy biological aging and will suffer from degenerative diseases at an early age. When you age holistically, mental aging is slower than the biological aging and longevity is the outcome. In my opinion aging is an outcome of external and internal environmental factors, which are affecting the human body. Internal and external environment is interdependent and independent as well. For example; food is an external factor but controls internal environment, and at the same time unhealthy internal chemistry leads to abnormal food cravings. Centenarians go through holistic aging and have common healthy lifestyle factors. In order to delay degenerative aging and have holistic aging, the most important factor is mental health. If we are health conscious we nourish our body with a natural and healthy lifestyle but forget to nourish our mind and therefore suffer from mental aging. Every human being is born with a built-in passion for a hobby which is an anti-dote to mental stress. For holistic aging we have to allocate little time for our hobby.
Signs of Holistic Aging:
If you are between age 40-60, you can use the following check list to assess your type of aging:
Signs of Degenerative Aging:
http://hinduism.about.com/od/books/fr/agelessbody.htm
http://hinduism.about.com/od/bookextracts/a/longivity.htm