Elite Traveler HRS 2016-2017

INSPIRE AGE MANAGEMENT

STRESS- FREE AGING

Need helpmanaging the process of aging? Spas around the world offer a wealth of programs designed to do just that

It’s a three-letter word that causes more anxiety and panic than any word three times its length: age. As a noun, “age” describes everything from a period in history to how many years we have accrued in life. However, in adjectival form – “aged” or “aging” – it can drive terror into the heart of man or woman. Aging is what happens to all of us day by day. We cannot prevent it or alter it, no matter how hard we try and no matter how many extreme measures we take. The aging process begins the very moment we are born. It is a process we wish we could speed up as we move through our childhood and teens; one we enjoy through the confidence that success in life and career bestows; and one we start to dread as our movements slow down, our skin acquires a different patina and tone, and our hair gets sparser or coarser. It’s a process that highlights the fact that we are getting older. Even though getting old is inevitable, that does not mean we should necessarily accept any acceleration in the process. To begin with, ignore anything that is headlined “anti-aging.” We may all be against the idea, but there is nothing we can do to stop it. What we can do is manage our own aging process and our expectations. Let’s try to embrace the process – it really is not that difficult, and so much of it is in our own hands. The key to a happier and healthier approach to aging is in how we manage it and how we make all the elements work for us. Best of all, there are any number of people and places around to help us, not to mention an abundance of advice.

by Jo Foley

Above: Morning yoga session at Canyon Ranch, Tucson, AZ; Opposite: the pool at Espace Henri Chenot at L’Albereta, in the Italian Dolomites