Five elements of healthy aging:
- Maintain balance in your life
>> Build relationships and don't let yourself become isolated. Friendships can keep you energized and youthful in spirit.
>> Explore the expressive arts and develop new sides of yourself through painting, music, poetry, etc.
>> Do things you enjoy and that make you happy. - Watch your nutrition
>> Eat a balanced diet, full of fruits and vegetables.
>> Eat fresh and organic foods as much as possible.
>> Get help from doctors, nutritionists if you are not sure what and how much you should be eating. - Exercise regularly
>> Walk with friends
>> Join an exercise group/club
>> Do some type of exercise every day, even it's only for five minutes. - Plants
>> Keep living plants/flowers, either inside or outside in a garden. Tend to them and enjoy how they flourish under your care. - Water
>> Enjoy the benefits of water. Soak your feet or your hands if they ache.
>> Regularly enjoy relaxing warm bath or shower.
Emotions:
Financial:
Event information:
The First Annual International Film Festival on Aging is the first event of its kind to be held in California. It features 21 films that celebrate the unique joys and challenges of aging and address archaic preconceptions about growing older. Bay Area filmmakers and families are among those featured in the festival.
>> Visit website for details: www.filmfestonaging.org
About Leah Mahan:
A producer, director and cinematographer, Mahan began working on documentary films in 1988 as a research assistant for filmmaker Henry Hampton on the PBS series, "Eyes on the Prize: America at the Racial Crossroads." Her first independent film, "Holding Ground: The Rebirth of Dudley Street," aired on public television in 1997, and chronicles the 12-year struggled of local residents to transform Boston's most devastated neighborhood into a vibrant community. The Ford Foundation and the Annie E. Casey Foundation funded a national "Holding Ground" education and outreach initiative that included distributing the film and companion materials to more than 1,000 nonprofit organizations struggling with sustainable development and community control. The Ford Foundation included that film n an evaluation of its most effective documentary funding in the last 25 years. She is currently working on a documentary about Turkey Creek, a coastal Mississippi community settled by emancipated slaves that is threatened by urban sprawl and environmental contamination. This work in progress was featured on the "Bill Moyer's Journal" website in 2007 for a story titled "Katrina Recovery Gone Wrong?"
About Nader Shabahangi:
Nader Shabahangi is a founder of AgeSong, and has served as President and CEO of the company since its formation in 1995. A licensed psychotherapist, he is a dedicated advocate for the elderly and focuses on creation of programs and environments that address physical, emotional and spiritual needs of the older population. In 1992, Nader established Pacific Institute, a nonprofit organization that helps the elderly enjoy meaningful and rewarding lives at the comfort of their home or in caring, therapeutic residential communities. Driven by his mission to transform the concept of eldership, and improve the field of eldercare, Nader is the guiding spirit and visionary behind the founding of AgeSong. Nader earned his doctorate from Stanford University, where he researched the philosophical assumptions that formed present-day psychotherapy approach. Nader conducts frequent lectures across the San Francisco Bay Area and has presented at international conferences addressing the challenging and unique aspects of aging, mental health, and dementia. He is the author of Faces of Aging, an insightful book that challenges stereotypical views of the aging process and of growing old.
