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Summary
On episode 255 of 40+ Fitness, Coach Allan sits down with Dr. Susan Levy, a registered nurse, chiropractor, and acupuncturist trained in massage, polarity therapy, nutrition, and herbology, to discuss her book, Your Aging Body Can Talk.
Dr. Levy argues that we all have an inner knowingness that guides us toward the right food, movement, and relationship choices if we take the time to listen to it, and that reframing aging as what she calls youthing can help preserve a more youthful function in the body.
The conversation covers the Japanese concept of ikigai and finding purpose after retirement, practical ways to reduce sedentary time, movement practices like tai chi, yoga, and backward walking, and her nutritional bottom line for what to include and exclude in a whole food diet.
Links
- https://yourbodycantalk.com
Key Takeaways
- Your body has an inner knowingness worth listening to. Dr. Levy says that centering yourself and paying attention to how you feel, whether walking into a room or choosing a food, provides real guidance most people override or ignore.
- Youthing reframes aging as something you can influence. Instead of focusing on wearing out, Dr. Levy has readers meditate on an earlier, more comfortable period in their life, which she says reminds the brain and body how to function that way again.
- Ikigai, the Okinawan concept of life purpose, evolves over time. A young parent’s purpose might center on a child, then shift again at retirement. Dr. Levy links a lack of redefined purpose after retirement to serious health decline in some retirees.
- Reducing sedentary time matters as much as formal exercise. Citing researcher Dr. James Levine’s concept of non-exercise activity thermogenesis, Dr. Levy uses a standing desk and recommends walking during phone calls or meetings.
- Tai chi, yoga, and Essentrics all build flexibility and calm. Research on these practices shows benefits for pain, stiffness, sleep, and even blood pressure and insulin balance, and all three can be modified into chair based versions for people with limitations.
- Backward walking and lateral movement protect against injury. Backward walking works the low back muscles differently and can ease stiffness, while lateral strength helps protect against the sideways falls that most often cause hip fractures in older adults.
- Her nutritional bottom line favors whole, unprocessed food. Dr. Levy recommends unprocessed foods with recognizable ingredients, organic and pasture raised meat and eggs when possible, glass storage over plastic, and buying from known farmers or a co-op.
- Water quality and additives deserve real scrutiny. Dr. Levy warns that municipal tap water can carry measurable medication residue and recommends a strong filter, while flagging additives like diacetyl in microwave popcorn and sulfur dioxide in some dried fruit.
“We all have an inner knowingness that we have.”
Dr. Susan Levy
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Episode 264 – How to live until you die with Dr. Phil Carson