Wellbeing

Peel Back The Years

Simple secrets that can help you keep your youthful glow for longer

We all know that diet, exercise and a good SPF will help hold off signs of ageing, but what other lifestyle factors can help? From how you move your body and apply your brain, to how you hold yourself and how you occupy your time. We’ve gathered together some tips you may never have dreamed could contribute to knocking years off your perceived age.

1. Perfect your posture

Bad posture can make us look and feel older (think of an old lady bent over her shopping trolley), and research shows it can even lead to a low mood, too. “Our lives today revolve so much around sitting,” says hellerwork practitioner, Roger Golten (golten.co.uk) “and it’s much easier for people to slouch and slump, which means they are at odds rather than in harmony with gravity.” To avoid the dangers of the sedentary society, Roger recommends taking a deep breath whilst slouching, this encourages us to straighten up and pay attention to our posture, this simple act can make us look and feel instantly younger.

2. Build muscle

One of the more common signs of ageing in women is weight gain. Founder of British supplement brand Rejuvenated (rejuvenated. com) and author of The Youth Plan Kathryn Danzey explains: “After the age of 30, we start to lose three to five percent of muscle mass every decade.” Kathryn recommends incorporating weights into your fitness routine to reverse this trend by slowing down the ageing process at a cellular and genetic level. “The benefits to strength training are endless,” she adds. “It can help to boost metabolic health, strengthen bones, improve mobility and cognitive function whilst also increasing energy levels, too.”

3. Take chlorella

It is well known that collagen plays an important role in skin ageing, but, there’s another protein found in our skin which may be even more important: Elastin. As we age elastin is broken down more readily and replaced at a slower rate than when we’re younger, meaning our skin gradually ages. Scientists have found that chlorella has an ability to inhibit an enzyme called elastase. Elastase can be found in our bodies and breaks down elastin. If you fancy giving it a whirl, Sunchlorella (sunchlorella.co.uk) has a range of products to try.

4. Challenge your brain

Just like our bodies, our brains need exercising too, to remain healthy. Dr Arianna Di Stadio, Harvard trained neuroscientist and co-founder of Hello Pure (hellopure.co.uk), says, “By challenging yourself through brain exercises such as memory games, learning a new skill or reading, you are stimulating the synaptic connection, which is necessary in fighting the loss of neurons, which avoids the cognitive decline that is typical of ageing.” So try sudoku, complete a crossword puzzle or build your own flat pack furniture; anything that challenges your brain will keep it, and you, youthful.

5. Try Yoga Nidra

A deeply restorative practice, Yoga Nidra is often referred to as ‘Yogic Sleep’, where you’re neither purposely asleep nor trying to stay awake. Yoga Nidra expert Dr Uma Dinsmore-Tuli says, “What happens during the process is a gradual settling of electrical activity in the brain. Practising Yoga Nidra can cycle your brain waves down from the high-stress top levels of beta, through restful reveries of alpha waves and down in to dreamy states of theta waves until you may, quite likely, come to rest for a while in delta waves of deepest sleep, where vital repair and restoration happens. If you want to try it for yourself, head to yoganidranetwork.org

6. Get your beauty sleep

You’ve heard it before, but a good night’s sleep really is the ultimate anti-ageing treatment. Jo Foster, founder of Kiss the Moon, says, “Overnight, our skin does three vital things that help us wake up looking gorgeous: produces collagen which prevents skin from sagging and reduces the visibility of fine lines and wrinkles; boosts blood flow to the skin which helps you wake to a healthy glow and removes toxins that can build up under the skin leaving our faces looking puffy. Try Kiss The Moon’s LOVE After Dark Face Oil which contains slumberinducing rose and frankincense aromatherapy oils with vitamin A, rich rosehip oil to support skin’s natural cell renewal and rejuvenate skin while we are sleeping. £48 for 30ml, kissthemoon.com

7. Squeeze your kegels

Pelvic floor exercises are important to us at any age but particularly during significant life changes including the birth of a child or post-menopause. “We lose muscle tone in this area, just as everywhere else in the body,” says Kathryn, “and a dual approach combining diaphragmatic breathing with pelvic floor exercises will give the best results. Check out the Holistic Core Restore programme, at holisticcorerestore.com.

8. Try something new

“As we get older, embracing new challenges and celebrating our successes, big and small, can have a positive impact on confidence and outlook,” says Life Coach Natalie Trice. “Enjoying an online yoga class, trying a vegan diet or taking up running can boost your self-esteem, as well as helping you to look and feel youthful.”

9. Cut back on alcohol

Who doesn’t love a glass of wine, but according to Janey Lee Grace, author of the ebook Goodbye Wine Witch and founder of thesoberclub.com, cutting out alcohol comes with a whole host of anti-ageing benefits. “Alcohol dehydrates us, causes inflammation and lowers immunity. It also messes with our hormonal picture so if you cut back, your eyes will be brighter, your face will be less puffy and your tummy less bloated.”

10. Keep indoor plants

Due to the multiple devices and chemical products used to build and within our homes, indoor pollution levels can be even higher than outdoors. “Plants in your home or by your desk at work act as air filters, keeping the air in your room clean,” suggests says Dr. Nitasha Buldeo, Founder of Organic Apoteke (organicapoteke.com). Three of the best air-filtering plants are: Snake Plant, Aloe Vera or English Ivy.