Alcohol
Limit the amount of alcohol you consume. Although it's great to 'get off your head' and feel like you're really free and out of control, it plays havoc with your body and skin, and degenerates them quickly. There's nothing wrong with a glass of something once a week or splashing out once in a while, but unfortunately too much will only leave your body racing to detox itself - robing it of the vital energy it needs for cell regeneration. There is another school of thought which may help give you an idea about alcohol. First if all, what is alcohol? In it's purest form it's a powerful preservative; researchers preserve organs and tissues in it. It is also a powerful poison. Have you ever heard somebody ask you 'What's your poison?'. It's true. The purer the substance the more deadly. That's how you get drunk in the first place - you are literally poisoning your brain - and as the brain rallies to flush the chemicals, it closes down more and more of it's functions, eventually leaving you with the very basic elements of survival. Of course this is a worst-case-scenario, but most people have experienced the feeling of 'I don't know how the hell I managed to get home last night?' I suppose I'm fortunate in a way. A history of Depression has left me with a very low tolerance to booze. In fact I can only drink a few pints before I feel depressed again - not something I really want to happen - so I have to avoid it. This in itself isn't easy - it's the social thing to do; to go out and have a drink and to socialise. These are the times we live in.
Tobacco
You guessed it, leave out the cigs. Or at least cut down. Everybody knows by now that tobacco contains many hundreds of harmful chemicals from the thousands of additives the tobacco companies put into their products to help them taste and smoke better. You don't need me to go through the list right now, but they're there. The body treats the injection of these chemicals like any other foreign body - it puts all it's effort into flushing them out as quickly as possible. Some of the chemicals in cigs actively break down the skin over long periods of time. The smoke will also dry the skin on your face - and dry skin is another factor of aging. Many people smoke as a luxury, and find their own pleasure in it. But smoking too much will turn your luxury into a habit, and take away some of the pleasure factor. I have to come clean here. I smoke. Except I only smoke about 6 or 8 cigarettes a day - so I can take full pleasure in each one.
One stumbling block, and the biggest one I can see if you feel like cutting down, is the addiction. The body is addicted, and the mind will feel the emptiness left behind by the smoking habbit. You know.. nature is like an elastic band - it expands to fill a need, and it contracts when that need is no longer there. So when you cut down on the cigs, the hole left in your psyche will slowly grow smaller and smaller until it fits the bill once again. If you go the whole way and 'give up', slowly this elastic band will constract day by day until the massive gap left by the smoking habbit becomes more managable.
Sex
Control your sexual urges! This may be an obscure one for some people. How could sex possibly be linked to our skin? And why should I cut down even though I enjoy it so much? Surely we all know that people who experience regular sex seem to glow; sex seems to keep them looking young doesn't it? Well no, not exactly. This effect is caused by people who share love with each other during sex - love is the great healer. However, sexual acts do take energy - lots of energy. And so the body naturally diverts it from everywhere it can to keep the momentum going and the juices flowing. Again, this isn't so much of a problem in a loving partnership as both people actually share energy between each other during the interaction. But yet again you can have too much of a good thing. Too much sex will often leave you feeling drained, and your body will take quite a few days to raise its energies back to normal again. Regulating yourself not only gives the body time to recover, it also makes the intercourse you do have all the more special and pleasurable.
But I'll let you in on another secret. Youth is greatly increased though virginity. That's right, the fact is that sexual acts can age the body in other ways too. Put simply, your hormones play a part in the aging and development process of the body. Sex increases the flow of hormones. And so, a lack of sex means there are fewer raging hormones - and you literally develop (grow up) slower. So the ultimate way to keep your youth then is to preserve the body and respect your virginity. Speaking for myself again now, I remained a virgin for a very long time. Not because I was particularly unattractive or boring; it had more to do with saving my ultimate gift for that special someone. Call me romantic... Anyway, I think that fact alone has preserved my youthful looks to this day - although I did have to find ways to channel this sexual energy and release it in other ways. I have yet to come up with a complete solution, but singing, dancing and meditation can help.
Caffeine and Amphetamine
Cut down on your stimulants. Yes, these too have an effect on the skin as strange as it may seem. What these things do is to speed up the operations of the body. In the short term you can enjoy the benefits of more energy, more motivation, more life! But where does all this extra energy come from? It has to come from somewhere? Well.. when you exercise or do any other physical activity, your body draws the energy it needs from external things; from food, from fresh air, and through the chakra system. It's a natural balance. But stimulants nag the body to go further and faster that it would do naturally, and so this requires more energy than the body can naturally absorb. This defitiency, over time, can show itself as poor skintone. The 'highs' and 'lows' generated by simulants also stress the mind and body as they try to keep up - and as we shall see later, stress is the biggest aging factor of all. Amphetamines multiply this factor by 10, leaving the body in a very depleated physical and mental state. But hold on, lets not get bogged down here. Caffeine is a very mild drug which only takes away youth after many years. The effects are noticeable past a certain age, but compared to alcohol and tobacco, it's much less harmful. Caffeine is also found in soft drinks (especially cola), and most of all in energy drinks such as 'Red Bull', and energy pills such as 'Pro-plus'. I have been lucky again in that I never got into the habit of drinking tea or coffee, so I drink only fruit juice or water out of a fridge filter. You know.. of all the ingredients in any drink, the body only really needs the water - the rest is flushed away. So why trouble your bowles over it? - cut out the middle man and just drink pure cool refreshing water!
Fresh Air
Breath fresh air! The body takes so much energy from the air that it has to breath it in every few seconds of your life. For this reason alone, it makes sense to take in good quality air to help keep your body fresh and clear; and a healthy body means healthy skin. It isn't hard. I keep all the upstairs windows open on 'night vent' all the time to get the air circulating around the house. Modern windows are very secure and have locks, so there's no need to worry about security. The great thing about this method is that you get fresh air when you need it most - when you're asleep! You may not get the chance to get out into the open air during the day, but at least you get 8 hours worth during the night - quick and easy. As you get used to breathing good air, you'll find yourself opening vents and windows wherever you go. One lady, who lived in the Alps, once went a month without food or water - she took all she needed from the pure alpine air! Breathing techinques may also help to get even more benefit from the air - pranayama is a good Eastern method but there are lots more.
Sleep
Take enough sleep. The body needs a bare minimum of 6 hours sleep every 24 hours to keep it working well. Most researchers recommend 8 hours as the normal and ideal number - I recommend 10 hours! Some people can't sleep this long - either physically because they naturally wake up after so many hours, or for other reasons; such as active children or career responsibilities. Guess what? I'm so fortunate! I don't begin work until mid afternoon so I can sleep for as long as I like, but it's worth mentioning that even if you get to bed around 11pm, you can still get a full nine hours sleep in before 8 in the morning. Sleep not only relaxes the body and sooths away stress, it also gives the body time to recover it's energies between a busy daily schedule. Without it you will stress your body, and the effect can show up as anxiety, mood swings, lack of consentration or boredom - which will undoubtedly put a crimp on your day and make you feel even worse!
Stress, Fear, Anxiety & Worry
Finally, and probably the most serious of all, is the problem of stress, anxiety and excessively worrying. It's a habit you can get into just like picking up a cigarette, and it's a hard one to break. Worry actively draws the lines on your face. It gives you spots. It makes your hair fall out. It drives you to drink! In fact worry and tension are by far the biggest enemies of your precious youthful complexion. By far the easiest way deal with them is by take on positive philosophies and use them from as young an age as possible. 'Always looking on the bright side of life' may not always be appropriate, but there are other ways. One way I have found to deal with stress is, to notice it's onset as soon as possible. You may feel a tightening feeling on the brow of the head, in the stomach, on the shoulders, in the throat - the body will give you signals all the time. As soon as you see or feel this happening, just relax those areas; soften the skin around them and breath out slowly. Massage and acupuncture are good antidotes for releasing trapped energy. If someone is trying to stress you out, you will feel the pressure of their negativity pressing on your chest. Don't take it! Push it away and give it back to them - you don't need it! If you can, send it back with love so both of you get the healing you need.
Worry is another form of stress caused by over-conscientious people who think they must pin things down to detail, who put other people before themselves, or who try to plan too far into the future - the great 'what if..?'. If the latter is your problem then it may be helpful to concentrate more on the present rather than a future that may or may never happen. The saying 'I'll cross that bridge when (or if) I come to it', can save you a lot of time endlessly planning. After all, when was the last time something turned out exactly the way you imagined it would? In a conversation, when was the last time you covered everything you wanted to talk about, and then got exactly the reactions you imagined? Life never turns out that way - so why worry about it? 'Oh, what will he or she say about that..!?', who knows... wait and see! Anticipation rarely does you any real favours, and is mostly just a fear of the unknown. Another trick is to realise that you cannot change or affect the future - only in the present can we adapt and shape possible futures. So for example, if you are late for an appointment one day; your stomach is filling with anticipation, and your mind is wishing your were there already; then relax, and realise that you are where you are now - in the present - and you'll get there soon enough so long as you keep your head and progressivly moving in the right direction. Why worry about getting there when you are already getting there?! What are you afraid of? Being late? You are already late!
And that leads me onto the most terrible tyrant of all - fear! Fear and hatred are stresses and anxieties taken to the extreme. They will tear your nervous system and heart to shreds if you let them, and will age your skin quicker than all the above put together! What are your fears? It was helpful for me to list my fears and find ways to face them once and for all. Once a fear is confronted it never has the same power over you again. I used to fear roller-coasters and crowded rooms; so I made myself face them, and guess what? Now they don't bother me. I still choose to avoid them, but I don't fear them anymore.
So what are the cures for anger, worry and stress? By far the best one I've found is meditation. Any form of meditation or relaxation through visualisation work wonders to slow the mind down and give it time to put things in perspective. Yoga is another great way, as it not only helps calm the mind, but also stretched the tight muscles which lead to tension within the body. If you lack energy, Tai Chi is another possible alternative, and will help take away the stresses of worry long enough for your mind to find peace. Tension can also be released by dancing or singing, physical sports or martial arts, even walking, running or swimming - although too much exercice can have the counter effect of over stressing the body once again. These activities will channel the energy into something more productive and will help you feel a hell of a lot better on many levels.
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