When you hear the term "age gracefully, what do you think of? Most likely, you think of forgoing medical “age prevention" intervention in the form of injections and surgery. The mainstream beauty industry may have you believing that beautiful aging is a costly endeavor only available to those with privilege. It may even have you thinking that you need to be what is considered conventionally attractive. There are undertones of not doing anything and naturally looking fresh as a daisy every day for the rest of your life. It puts a lot of pressure on because that's not very realistic. "Aging gracefully" is a beautiful concept, but I want to propose a goal that I think is better and more attainable… Aging with vitality.
Aging with vitality means doing the work, the actions, and the lifestyle choices to support the vitality within your body to help you feel and look your best for the rest of your life to improve the quality of life as you age.
Creating vitality in your life is a labor of love. Vitality means having energy, drive, strength, creativity, and being filled with life force. In appearance, this looks like glowing skin, shining eyes, and radiance. This doesn't mean not having any wrinkles. It doesn't mean perfect skin for the rest of your life. This is the actual "graceful aging."
Facial injections prevent vitality. The flow of fluid through the skin tissue is essential. Additionally, the flow of a Chinese Medicine concept called Qi is critical to vitality. Qi (pronounced chi) is both the vital fluids in the body and the energy that flows through our body. Qi must flow freely through the body to maintain good health and vibrancy. Injections such as Botox and fillers block this flow and create stagnation. Stagnation is death, so it is pervasive for the skin to become dull, sallow, and lackluster when injected with these interventions.
In herbalism, there is a concept called "vitalism." Vitalism is about living in accordance with nature. Seasonal living is a part of vitalism. Observing how the bioregional climate around you is influencing your internal environment.
The most significant influencing factor on your vitality is the state of your nervous system. We often find ourselves in a state of fight or flight in the modern era, and this is a surefire way to prevent the formation of new healthy collagen. Cells called fibroblasts are responsible for the production of tropocollagen, which is the precursor to collagen. Fibroblasts only work when the parasympathetic nervous system or the rest and digest state is activated. Our collagen production naturally declines as we age, but this production takes an additional hit if the parasympathetic nervous system is not activated regularly.
Here are some actionable ideas that create vitality in your life… this is not an exhaustive list, but I told you, it's a labor of love!
Moving your body every day
Prioritizing hydration
Regular meditation
Journaling
Prioritizing sleep hygiene (no screens before bed, getting sun in my eyes early in the morning, creating a regular bedtime, and waking up at around the same time every day)
Little to no alcohol
Regular sun exposure without sunblock or sunglasses
Giving myself time to daydream
Heat shock therapy in the sauna
Spending time with plants
Consuming a plethora of antioxidants
Eating fats and proteins to help rebuild the body
Consuming plants and herbs every day in some form
Reducing toxic load (less packaged food, prioritizing clean water, etc.)
Castor oil packs (look for an entire article on this soon, but if you've never tried it, look up Queen of the Thrones)
Dry brushing
Mental health walks in nature
MINERALS (see below)
In the spirit of seasonal living and vitalist skincare, I want to share about spring greens as we live in accordance with the season.
We are starting to see life reappearing in nature during this time, spring greens are starting to pop up, and we will continue to see them popping up over the next several weeks. Early spring plants wake up our bodies after the heaviness of winter, preparing us for the more active seasons to come. These bitter and sour flavors provide digestive support as well as being mineral rich. Spring greens include violet, dandelion leaf, chickweed, nettle, lambsquarter, and roots such as yellow dock, burdock, and dandelion.
This is a wonderful time to work with these mineral-rich plants. Even if you do not have a garden, working with dried herbs purchased through commerce is a great way to live seasonally. A favorite way to work with these plants is by creating overnight mineral-rich infusions.
What do minerals do for us? Minerals influence the processes of the nervous system. They are essential to the electrically charged ions that regulate the body's hydration. Hydration is necessary for vitality.
Below you will find a recipe for an overnight mineral infusion. A slow water infusion is the best way to extract minerals from herbs. In this process, water acts as the solvent extracting minerals (and other chemical compounds from the plants). This just means allowing them to steep overnight.
The other way to effectively extract minerals from herbs is by using vinegar as a solvent, you can place your mineral-rich herbs into apple cider vinegar and let it steep (macerate) for 4-6 weeks, and you will then have a mineral-rich extraction.
Working with alcohol is not an effective way to extract minerals from herbs. It is also not as effective to make a traditional 20 min tea steep. The key is the overnight infusion. Furthermore, it would only be desirable to infuse the herbs in water overnight (or all day for an evening preparation)- any longer than 12 hours because this can cause a breeding ground for bacteria.
Mineral-Rich Vital Aging Overnight Infusion Tea
1 pt Oatstraw
1 pt Rose hips
1 pt Red Clover
1 pt Dandelion leaf
1 pt Nettle
1 pt Marshmallow
½ pt Orange Peel
Directions: Add 4 TBSP tea: 4 cup water in a quart jar (or French press) and allow to sit overnight. In the morning, strain and sip throughout the day. Do this daily for best results.