Crusader Rabbit and Anti-Aging Potions, Lotions, and Injections

Because my husband’s nickname for me is Bunny, I’ve decided my current moniker is Crusader Rabbit. What’s my crusade you ask -- it’s to debunk all those creepy myths of aging and get us to embrace the process instead of fear it. Ooops, my husband just commented on my new title; he hopes it doesn’t become Rabid Rabbit. I’m sure you’ll let me know if it does. But hey, sometimes it takes a lot of energy and forcefulness to overturn the kind of aging stereotypes we’re subjected to on a daily basis.

I’m sure you’ve noticed those ubiquitous television commercials where women are encouraged (coerced) to use various “anti-aging” potions, lotions, and injections. It’s as if our natural aging process is somehow flawed or a disease that needs curing by our friendly pharmaceutical and cosmetics companies. It reminds me of the old 1960’s menopause myth perpetrated by a male MD who made a natural process, menopause, a disease and, with the help of the drug companies, got millions of women to medicate themselves unnecessarily with a potentially carcinogenic synthetic estrogen. A drug which by the way, was created at the expense and inhumane treatment of ccountless numbers of pregnant mares.

Did you know that innocent animals are subjected to the botulinum toxin that makes up Botox in order to make it safe for us? And that they are injected with Botox at various doses to see what doses paralyze them? If they aren’t paralyzed, then the Botox dose is considered too weak. However, the animals that receive too much Botox become paralyzed to the extent that they suffer horrible deaths from the paralysis of their respiratory muscles. How can we use any product that makes a fellow creature suffer like that? I, for one, will live with my wrinkles -- I’ve earned every one of them!

Now, Botox also works on your face to reduce those pesky wrinkles by paralyzing your facial muscles - hence the robot-like expressionless appearance of the Botoxee’s. Moreover, the treatment is temporary, which means once started if you want to maintain that “permanent pressed” look, you’ll have to continue to inject yourself with the botulinum toxin. Oh, by the way it’s made from the bacteria that causes botulism, a potentially lethal illness that can lead to paralysis and death!

Now, I’m not advocating doing nothing to keep your skin and body beautiful and healthy. I’m advocating doing it naturally and out of LOVE for our bodies rather than fear of “looking old”. By naturally, I mean eating the foods and taking the supplements that nourish our skin from the inside out. So, what are these supplements? According to the December issue of Nutrition Action, the vitamin C in fruits and vegetables and the linoleic acid in foods like nuts, soybeans, and oils may protect the skin from aging. The vitamin C apparently reduced the wrinkled appearance and dry skin usually associated with aging. The linoleic acid helped reduce skin atrophy and dryness.

I use some botanically-based, not tested on animals product (a Swiss formula) from Arbonne International called NutriminC RE to keep my skin as soft and as smooth as nature allows. Their products work extremely well and no animals are harmed, no animal products are used, and no mineral oil either. My only complaint is that they’ve caved in to the “anti-aging” advertising virus and call them anti-aging products.

Now, I do have wrinkles, and so what. They’re a natural part of the aging process. Vive la elder Diva!!

The "Me First" Principle

I woke up at 5:00AM this morning with these thoughts pouring out of my brain. This could be from an overactive imagination or manna from heaven -- you can decide!

I’m sure most of you’ve been on an airplane at least once, and remember the flight attendant giving you the emergency instructions; the one about in case of loss of oxygen, the parents should place their own oxygen mask first and then put one on their children. Makes sense doesn’t it because the parent first needs to be capable of helping the child.

This not only applies on airplanes, it applies in our every day lives. We are so busy taking care of others, and bringing in the income to support our families, that we forget to first put on our own “oxygen mask” so we are able to help others with theirs.

Now, I can hear the objections already. Some of you may be saying to yourself: It’s selfish to think of myself first. I’m not a good person (wife, mother, grandmother, you name it) if I put my needs before others. Well, consider this. Do your family, friends or business associates deserve a tired, unhealthy, “not present” you who is overwhelmed, burned out and basically exhausted? Or -- do they deserve someone who is healthy, giving, present, energetic, and even FUN? Which person would YOU rather be with?

Also ask yourself, do your loved ones have a role model who shows them how to take care of themselves in mind, body and spirit? Do they have someone who shows then how to serve from a fullness of spirit or one who is cranky, always tired and too busy to spend time with them. You decide because it’s up to you.

We need to take care of ourselves! Show up for ourselves and we’ll be able to show up for others and it will spread. What if everyone showed up full of life, health, vigor and wanting to be of service to one another. This would be a very different world.

Really examine what it is you are putting first in your life and if it’s not your health (body, mind and spirit), your greatest asset, you are shortchanging yourself and those you love and care about. Don’t make your life about quantity -- make it about quality.

Busy is the name of this game. We hear it a lot at our fitness studio -- I was too busy to walk that mile today, or I have to cancel my appointment because I have to work late, or I’ve got a last minute errand to run. As long as we believe we don’t have enough time to take care of ourselves, we’ll behave as if we don’t have the time. Our behavior follows our beliefs -- it’s a law of life. What limiting beliefs are you carrying around with you?

What is Powerful Aging?

Powerful Aging is the antithesis of anti-aging. It’s not against aging, it’s a mind set of seeing aging as a natural and worthwhile process. It’s a process which brings us wisdom, the courage to finally be who we really are, and the impetus to continue to evolve and serve others and our planet.

I get upset when I see the stereotypical presentation of aging in commercials that show somewhat silly and obviously inept older people. I also decry the commercials that make us want to inject our bodies with foreign substances so we can look younger, and somehow be more acceptable to our peers and those younger than we. There are ways to help our bodies age gracefully, beautifully, and naturally that don’t involve the drug companies.

There are so many ways we can embrace the aging process and make it just one more phase of a fulfilling and enjoyable life.
One of the most important things we can do as we age is to improve our health. Since we replace all the cells in our body every seven years, we continue to have the opportunity to create new and better cells until the day we die. Yes, I said the “d” word. From the moment we draw our first breath, we are on a great journey towards death. What a tremendous opportunity to create a meaningful life! If we remember our time on this earth is limited, we will live as we are meant to live -- with passion, purpose and in service to making the world a better place.

How do we do this? We start by making our bodies stronger through consistent exercise -- if we aren’t already doing so -- by doing both strength training to keep our muscles strong and some aerobic exercise to keep our heart and lungs strong. This will allow us to remain functionally fit throughout our life-span and have a quality of life that’s worth living! Of course, we’ll probably live longer, and we deserve a life where we feel vibrantly alive while we are living.

We look at the foods we put into our bodies for fuel and cell replacement, and if they are lacking, we make better food choices. If our lifestyle needs updating to provide more sleep, we create strategies to get the sleep we need to regenerate. If we have become so busy we’ve forgotten how to make time for friends and family, we make time because it’s in our social interactions that we continue to find a reason for living.

I’ll have more tips for powerful aging in future entries, but now it’s time to get ready for that much needed rejuvenating sleep!

Taru