“My, what an odd title,” you may be thinking.
And you’d be right, of course. But it sounds more business-like than “Success begins in bed…” Although, that would at least ensure a following of slimy politicians.
But, seriously…Think prepping and anti-aging in the same context.
One of the great learnings of 70-years is that there are a number of “key rituals” that will help you live to a riper old age that were not taught when some of us “grays” were coming up.
OK, What’s a Ritual?
Simply things you do over and over – day after day – and they serve a useful purpose.
I like to think of my “rituals” by geolocation; where I do them.
The first ritual is sleep. We all do it, but there are some tools of good sleep that are often taken for-granted. Some examples:
- Don’t eat anything for a couple of hours before bed time. We don’t snack at night and if there’s alcohol, it is always before (or with) a meal because I read somewhere long ago that alcohol plays hell on the liver (in general) but (in particular) if the liver was trying to process alcohol alone. No, not medical advice, but just one of those things that stuck. By not drinking after a meal, you may lessen esophageal irritation, and by not over-eating – at least waiting a while – you may lessen odds of GERD (acid reflux). Eat earlier than later and sit up for at least 2-3 hours after a meal. Can’t count how many movie endings I haven’t seen, but does it matter?
- If you are stressed (and two drinks before dinner doesn’t unwind you) and your lawyer will not kill the requested problem, type some HTP-5 – which is related to tryptophan (think full and sleepy after turkey). Increases serotonin.
- If you want to work on lucid dreams, part of good sleeping is one pee stop in the middle of the night. Drink enough liquid before bed so you need to pee in about five hours. I usually have one lucid before, but the ones after the break? Wow-wee!
- General life prepping note: When native peoples need to wake up in the middle of the night for whatever reason, they will drink a couple of quarts of water. Yes, the body is its own alarm clock. (But you should know that if you’ve been reading UrbanSurvival long…)
Next Ritual is getting up;
- First time (middle of the night) involves about 5-minutes or giving myself permission to remember my dream and then I get to flush out the body…
- Second time I get up, the first order of business is always to savor or remember or learn from the dream, but then comes…
- When I’m getting up, I think in general terms about the day and ask myself a couple of solid questions:
- “What would a fully rational person do in my position today given everything I have on my plate?” This forces me to remember there’s always another choice. Normally, I avoid being that “fully rational” person,; but there are days (2 so far this week) when even at 70, there is 16-hours of “stuff” to be shoved into a day.
- “Given I’m not that rational person, what are the ‘Deal Points’ that I really ought to get done today?” This one – not surprisingly – is a whole hell of a lot easier.
By here, the aforementioned water will be demanding recycling so then comes the “dressing ritual. I used to go from bed to shower to coffee to throne-room (as it were) but I have changed my thinking. Why shower and THEN have coffee and that ever so regular visit? Well, the answer is that’s dumb. I changed up my personal ritual.
Now the ritual goes:
- Get dressed.
- Make/ swill two large cups of coffee with the pre-meal vit & med stack.
- Go write a column and stay busy until 8 AM (this will involve one or more visits to the throne). Besides the morning “blasting liquid” (coffee), this routine ensures that I go at least 14-hours a day with no food, something to follow if you have one of the Alzheimer’s genes, as both Elaine and I do.
- Breakfast at 8.
- First round of chores at 8:30-9:30, with a workout if the chores aren’t motion-oriented.
- THEN I NEED a shower and I can take a nice relaxing one with no hurries since part of my day is already done…
After the shower, a cup of “longevity tea” and then it’s “heads down” into work until 4 PM.
The n ext ritual is from 4-5 PM and that’s the two drinks ritual. We just talk with no distractions about whatever’s on our minds. What we did during the day, what’s ahead and…say, what’s for dinner? 7 times out of 10 we have the second drink with something thawing in the ‘wave.
We don’t do this once in a while. This is an every day or the week deal.
Elaine’s rituals are a bit different. Since she has a leg/muscle issue, her “waking up” includes some stretches and the like. You can customize your rituals. But, here’s the main point:
Plan Your Sleep
We are incredibly “regular” in our sleep. Even when traveling, we tend to follow “Texas Time: and eat and sleep at the same hours. By following a never-changing body clock setting, you reduce stress, or so we believe.
And getting rid of stress is one of the best ways to live longer.,
Try to figure Life into your schedule. Not the other way around.
You can thank me in 20-30 years.
OH…also critically important: keep where you sleep as dark as possible:
Read “Artificial Light at Night and Cancer: Global Study” (2016) or more recently (2018) “Long-term sleep habits and the risk of breast cancer among Chinese women: a case-control study.”
If you have medical issues (esp. breast cancer related) and your doc isn’t asking about how much light is on when you sleep, think about doctor shopping…This may all be about melatonin cycling (and hormonal response). While we don’t offer medical advice, you might consider this shopping advice.
Like I said, “Success begins in bed..” But who’d read that?
Write when you get rich,
george@ure.net
Great idea for future article G! “Success Begins In Bed” The angles you could cover, fleshing out different positions, discussing different methods of attack. Sounds like a great topic to really get the readership “up” and or aroused, and ready for the days action. You go George, you sly dog.
Cupple comments I hope somebody finds useful.
My wife and I take pains to “sundown” each day. We sit out on the deck, or
in the living room if it’s cold or rainy — with NO “media” on — and just talk, over a bit of grape juice: the fermented kind. Hers: white; mine: red.
We are very regular about bed-time. 11pm. The cats wake us up quite promptly at 0730 — one of them “soft-paw” taps me on my nose. I’m convinced he thinks it’s my “ON” button.
I don’t eat after 3pm. Since I started that, the extra mass has magically melted away. I always have some sort of a bite of protein First Thing as the Bean Brews, and the catz get fed. Not eating after 3pm has had another good effect: my A1C has stabilized at a “good number.” Doctor happy with it. (Catz are locked in at night, but free-range by day.)
I take a General vitamin for Old Guys, 2000 C, 400 E, a Hi-Po B complex, 2000 D, Q-10, trace minerals, a probiotic, Tumeric — plus I use a lot of it in home-made soups, Alpha-Lipo, Ginseng, garlic — plus lots in food prep, and an Occuvite. I space all these out during the day — thinking a big, sudden Pulse Load might confuse the chemistry with undefined interactions.
We have excellent water here from a Berkey water filter — plus the town’s water starts out as pretty good from numerous wells. I drink a LOT of water, and UNsweet ice tea throughout the day. Tervis tumblers keep the cold for many hours.
Age 74, and doing well. My parents and grandparents in their fifties and sixties looked and acted a LOT older than I do now at 74. They were all pretty decrepit Olde Folkes by then, with lots of serious systemic problems.
I walk a lot. In winter at the Senior Center: they have treadmills. 75% of the year it’s road-walking about a mile or two a day. Walking is pretty wonderful. We live in a less-than-suburban, but not quite Deep Country area, so I pack a .22LR pocket Beretta Bobcat for any unplanned unpleasant encounters. I also pack a 2-meter HT and a CellFone — they ain’t heavy. (…and I don’t really use them when walking.)
Sometimes I think the time spent walking — time away from the Media Rattle & Hum — is the most important part of it. To call it a meditation is too high-falutin, but the Time Out seems vital to my brayne…
In an oligarch gang kleptocracy, making a ritual out of being random and unpredictable has great value in an anti-dead regimen.
Andy (God): It is interesting to hear that most were looking for sex & an above average package to enjoy it. Keep us posted, very interesting.
“The first ritual is sleep.”
LOL.This gave me a chuckle reminiscing about ..Yesterday.. I had a doctors visit…. new doctor.. mine retired.. the other doctor on the floor that I knew from days gone by.. retired also.. this guy.. hmmm
my first thought is.Lord help me HADI…..( He’s a drooling idiot ) and I may seek a different general practitioner soon..
He was complaining the whole time I was in his office.. obviously he wasn’t having a good day at all.. he has to work ten hour days and sometimes on weekends LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL.. obviously he has never worked a hospital floor before.they have a no call in policy.. calling in is the same as quiting… LOL LOL LOL LOL..
the long grueling hours.. had to inform him unless he doesn’t want a late night emergency call.. don’t write any stupid orders that will force some nurse or floor worker to contact him.. LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL… Now I knew both of the other two doctors.. great doctors.. worked with them on the floor while they went to school when I fell thirty feet.. the one doctor treated me and would drop by the house to check on me while I healed…. side by side.. they never once complained to me about the hours they work.. ( they knew better because I wrote the book on long hours and no sleep..average was between twelve and seventeen hours a day seven days a week.. my egg timer life..) anyway I said.. that really isn’t that bad I thought you were going to give me some horror hours.. I use to work day and night Hell year was the worst.. I worked three full time jobs.. one in exchange to pay off a debt at the hospital the other two and part time job was to live.. 140 plus hours a week.. about killed me….I started to rummage through my jacket and pockets.. here let me find it.. he looked puzzled.. I said god I must have left it home… he asked what.. I said my violin.. LOL
I said.. sorry but complaining about long hours of working your job is not something to bitch to me about. I worked healthcare since before you were riding a tricycle .. been there done that. If your job makes it so bad you can’t put your pants on in the morning then go flip burgers or sack groceries.. LOL….
even now.. I sleep three or four hours a day.. bad habits are hard to break read more.. .. even though I know it isn’t good for me and basically has my body attacking itself..
I seriously doubt that after talking to him that I will be his favorite patient.. I am sure he charted.. C.(circled). BFH.. client.. bastard from Hell… LOL LOL LOL which means I had better I let him know I wasn’t the one to complain to.. unfortunately my wife wasn’t there to guide me from setting him straight.. so I better go start looking for my future doctor. the sad part is.. when you need them.. you need them.. I have to have someone I can trust to not be an idiot when the time comes..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ifEdu_EcHY4
“keep where you sleep as dark as possible”
Absolutely… working overnights most of my life and hearing people complain about their sleep.. that is totally true..
back during the egg timer years.. I built a house.. didn’t put a window in it.. totally black and a separate entrance and coffee and reading den.. my egress opening was there.. on suite..