The Fountain of Youth
By John Ortiz, edited by Jonathan Atleson
I lived for 25 years in the Daytona Beach area. Right by Daytona Beach was a small community called Ponce Inlet. It was named after the Conquistador (a.k.a. explorer), Juan Ponce de Leon. He was the first governor of Puerto Rico where I was born.
My understanding of Ponce de Leon is that he initially explored Florida in search of gold and silver, but later went searching for the Fountain of Youth (much as we all do!). The legend of magical waters imparting eternal youth is one that has existed in many cultures around the world.
The population in Forida has a high proportion of geriatric people, seeking warmth and low taxes. (The refugees fleeing southward from the frigid northern climes are called “snow birds.”) Perhaps, unwittingly, they are seeking the Fountain of Youth as well.
During my 25 years in Florida, I spent much of my days swimming in the ocean. To me, it was my personal Fountain of Youth. Today I’m more focused on the water that I drink throughout the day, as explored in this post.
Over time, I studied various subjects like yoga, Qigong, Tai Chi, martial arts, exercise physiology, and various alternative healing modalities. During this time I came up with my own theories of the internal Fountain of Youth and how it would be manifested in a person:
Energetic ability — ability to give (transmit) and receive (sense)
Activated Chakras
Visual acuity
Auditory acuity
Mental ability
Clarity
Sharpness
Flexibility
Physical wellness
Appearance
Flexibility, particularly spinal
Physiological function, particularly grip strength
Let's start with what I believe is the most important factor: energy. The primary complaint when people visit a doctor is fatigue or low energy. Men are being showered with commercials informing them that the root of their all their problems is low testosterone. Women are being showered with other commercials saying that it's low estrogen or progesterone.
We talk about active people having a “youthful” energy. I once witnessed a group of middle-aged adults watching some children play. One of the adults said, “Wow, I wonder where those children get all that energy from!” Another adult countered, “I’m pretty sure they suck it out of their parents!”
They all laughed, but I kept wondering, why do children have so much more energy than adults? I was reminded of Jesus saying something like, “You must become like children to enter the Kingdom of Heaven.” I wondered: What went wrong? What could be changed? What could be reversed?
There are many things that affect our energy level, including sleep quality and quantity, stress (and management), nutrition (and absorption), hydration, the quality of the water you drink, exercise (aerobic and strength), enthusiasm or lack thereof for the activity that you are doing, and also the practice of exercises that enhance your energy. Without the fuel of energy, the destination is unobtainable.
Next, let's discuss mental clarity and sharpness. There is a cloud of fear over an aging population that is well-founded — Alzheimer's and dementia. The burden on society and families, most of all on the partners who have to play caregivers is staggering, and we will only get worse in an aging population. Steps need to be taken to address this.
A Fountain of Youth would not only prevent dementia, but mitigate and reverse it. In my experience using Pranic/Triad healing, I have seen this happen. This alone warrants research and should be a priority in our current society.
The next subject would be physical appearance. I remember I was attending a conference in Los Angeles while I was living in Florida. Some of my friends said to me, John, you are a Northern Californian, you just don't realize it yet. And I asked, what's the difference between a Northern Californian and a Southern Californian? He answered, “same planet different worlds.”
In Southern California with the influence of Hollywood, there's a focus on looking youthful with cosmetic surgery, Botox, suntans, cosmetics, etc. I must admit, I was at one time a bit judgmental about what people would do and how much they would pay to appear younger. But then I then realized it's a good thing to feel good about yourself. And a certain amount of that would be beneficial and appropriate, depending on one's socio-economic status.
You can ask the question, is the mirror your friend? Is the mirror your enemy? Or is it a neutral reflection? In any movie about the Fountain of Youth, one of the most dramatic shifts is always appearance. At the age of 16, I noticed my hair was thinning — both my grandfathers were bald, and I was told this was my genetic destiny. I never accepted that. (Still to this day, at 64, I am fighting to retain and regain the few hairs I have left.)
Instead, I believe in epigenetics, in which the genes act like switches in response to environmental influences. Dr. Andrew Weil wrote a book called Healthy Aging: A Lifelong Guide to Your Well-Being, that had a powerful influence on me. But the Fountain of Youth would also have a component of stalling and reversing that aging process. I remember growing up with the movie Cocoon on my mind, in which alien technology allowed an elderly population to reverse the aging process.
I also remember growing up with the story of the Tibetan Rites from Peter Kelder's 1939 book, Ancient Secret of the Fountain of Youth. In that book, an aging Colonel Bradford travels to Tibet and engages in certain practices and lifestyles. Upon his return, they don’t recognize him due to his youthful appearance.
Kelder shared the five Tibetan Rites as a primary cause of the Colonel’s age reversal. These exercises are related to Hatha Yoga, which teaches that the more flexible your spine, the more youthful you will be. Therefore, most of the asanas (poses) relate to the spinal range of motion. There are forward bends, like touching your toes. Backward bends, like cobra or arching your back backwards. Spinal twists in both directions, like spiral helix. Side bends in either direction, and inversions, like head or shoulder stand or using an inversion table.
In Exercise Physiology, we were taught “Use It or Lose It.” This includes flexibility. In today's computer world, most of us have hunched-over or slouching shoulders. I sometimes lie on my back over a basketball, volleyball, or firm cushion to stretch my neck and shoulders backwards. Massage therapy and hydrotherapy also help.
When we look or feel old, we look stiff and sore with aches and pains. We will explore this more in a post on reversing inflexibility called The Legacy of Raymond Francis. If you don't know who Raymond Francis is, read my post Raymond Francis, the likes of him will never be seen again.
There are a series of physiological functions pertaining to usefulness, including visual acuity, audio acuity, libido, sexual performance and enjoyment, and exercise function. All of these can be enhanced with regular practice. It gets people feeling and looking younger. For stories about this, look for an upcoming post on Adventures in Pranic/Triad Healing.
The number one cause of bankruptcy in this country is healthcare. We call the US a civilized country, and yet you can lose all your wealth and your family's wealth with a single health crisis. All my life I’ve watched people overwork themselves for the sake of their retirement, only to lose their health in later years. This prevented them from enjoying their retirement, or what was promised to be their “Golden Years.” (However, they did turn out to be “golden years” indeed for the medical/pharma industry!)
If you are over the age of 40, health, fitness, and wellness — the Fountain of Youth — should be a top priority each day. If it hasn't been, and you find yourself in a health crisis, don't despair! I know it can be mitigated and many times reversed. If you think outside the box, it may keep you out of the coffin.
You're mental and emotional state also pays a role in the Fountain of Youth. There is a youthfulness to falling in love, or in enthusiasm for a cause or project. There was a large scientific study seeking the factors that were most closely associated with living a long life. Most of the scientists believe that it would be physical factors: Did you smoke? Did you exercise? Did you sleep well? Did you eat well?
But the two factors that far outweighed all the others turned out to be mental/emotional factors. One was your sense of purpose in life. The second was happiness with daily life. Interestingly, you did not have to have both. You could be focused on a mission but be quite miserable in your daily life, or you could be happy in your daily life without much sense of purpose — just toodling around, enjoying whatever happens.
In Triad Healing, we focus on nurturing both your sense of purpose and happiness with daily life. When you start engaging the power of the mind and connecting to a higher power, you can experience more of the Fountain of Youth. After all, every fountain has a Source!
There is a saying, “You can't teach an old dog new tricks.” But now I will add, “You can teach an old dog new tricks — but only if they find the Fountain of Youth.”