The idea of living past 100 years old is not appealing to many people because often it is associated with diminished health and mental abilities. After reading this book that stereotype will be put to rest.


The idea of aging has always fascinated me especially since having such a close relationship with my Nana. She lived in her own apartment with such life and vitality right up till the week before she passed away. She was two months shy of 92. I loved to brag about her age and how vibrant a life she was still living. When I read this book it was obvious to me how she encompassed many of the qualities that these centenarians shared.

This book was written by Dan Buettner who's groundbreaking work on longevity led to his 2005 National Geographic cover story "Secrets of Living Longer". He has since become the founder of Blue Zones, an organization that helps people live longer and healthier lives.

This book is not so much a "how to" but rather a book about a collection of amazing individuals who have common threads to how they live their lives. Dan Buettner and his team identify four of the world's Blue Zones; Okinawa, Japan; Sardinia, Italy; Loma Linda, California and the Nicoyan Peninsula in Costa Rica.

After spending time getting to know these inspiring men and women, the author Dan Buettner asks them what they feel is the secret to living. The key to them for living a full life was to live simply.

I love lists...this is a list of suggestions for living a healthy long life taken from the advice given by a handful of our worlds centenarians.

• Put family first where every member of the family is cared for. People who live in strong, healthy families suffer lower rates of depression, suicide and stress.
• Celebrate elders in our communities and in our families.
• Laugh with friends. Laughter reduces stress and is fun.
• Move. Be active without having to think about it. Walk. Dance. Do yoga. Plant a garden.
• Eat less meat and processed foods.
• Lower your daily calories. Stop eating when you are 80% full. Rather than eating till you are no longer full, try eating till you are no longer hungry.
• Drink red wine in moderation. (I like this one.)
• Have a purpose in life. See the "bigger picture".
• Take time to relieve stress. Consider reducing noise in your life, be early, try meditating.
• Belong to a community.
• Surround yourself with others who share the same values.
• Get outside and enjoy the sun, nature, water.
• Drink plenty of water, get plenty of rest.

My Nana was an inspiration to me and many of those around her. She did live fully. She had a sense of purpose, she felt grateful, she belonged and felt valued. She died happy and loved. This is a true achievement of success after living a long and healthy life.


Take a look at the Blue Zone website to learn more about living longer. http://www.bluezones.com/

For Serious List Makers...

I came across this lovely book and then discovered a whole website dedicated to those of us who love to make lists. Serious lists such as long term/short term goals, to do lists or grocery lists. But I have found that it is the unusual lists that are the most thought provoking and entertaining. Try making a list of your favourite songs, favourite teachers, a list of the bands that you have seen live, a list of the people that you have lived with...or how about a list of your guilty pleasures!

101 things to do in 1001 days

Here it is...my ultimate to do list.  101 things to do in 1001 day.  This is my Day Zero.
I don't really like the idea of New Years Resolutions but I do like lists.  More importantly, I like checking off items on a list.  I like the feeling of progress, moving forward, accomplishing little tasks that make a larger whole.  


This is my Day Zero and it couldn't have come at a better time.  My life seems to have been on hold the past few years.  A feeling of treading water has permeated my day to day.  It is time to start ticking items off a list.  My list...my 101 things to do in 1001 days.

1. Restore my meditation practice and make it a daily part of my life
2. Bring pranayama more deeply into my yoga practice
3. Reach out to H. on a monthly basis
4. Bring my studio accounting up to date 
5. Finish G. Christmas stocking that I have been working on for too many years to say
6. Start A. Christmas stocking
7. Do a detox cleanse
8. Update my CPR
9. Create a home cashflow budget
10. Create a savings timeline
11. Buy a home and stay there
12. Decorate my home
13. Have a dinner party
14. Throw a dance party at the studio
15. Bring A. and G. to Disneyworld
16. Pay off my creditcards
17. Go on a exotic trip with J.
18. Go on a trip with my girlfriends
19. Start publishing my digital photos into books
20. Get rid of years of moving boxes
21. Donate half of my closet and start again
22. Wash our family douvets
23. Start spinning
24. Host a "girl's night in"
25. Take A. and G. on a trip by myself (done...trip to Florida Feb. 2010)
26. Try Tai Chi
27. Get skates
28. Save every month
29. Stop drinking diet coke
30. Drink more water
31. Photograph daily
32. Post a personal photo weekly
33. Increase my Looking for Space blog page views
34. Go for routine massages
35. Visit a coffee shop weekly with my creative journal
36. Turn off the computer before teaching nightly classes
37. Read more, write more
38. Golf this summer, next summer, the next...
39. Wake before sunset and watch it rise
40. Dance with my children
41. Take a yoga class at a different studio
42. Organize my digital images
43. Complete A. and G. memory boxes (done...organized a filing system for special mementos!)
44. Enter a photography contest
45. Buy lottery tickets
46. Lose 15 lbs.
47. Walk my dog once a day
48. Visit a new country
49. Frequent date nights with J.
50. Write a letter to myself to open in 10 years
51. Write a letter to A. to open in 10 years
52. Write a letter to G. to open in 10 years
53. Write a letter to my Mom and Dad thanking them
54. Go to a concert
55. Go to a Dance production
56. Cut out refined sugar
57. Wear a bikini again
58. Photograph my self portrait
59. Write a poem
60. Photograph portraits of J, A, and G
61. Take G. to get a manicure
62. Go snowshoeing with my sister
63. Learn to snowboard
64. Do Ride for a Cure with K. and J.
65. Spend a day in silence
66. Create daily retreats for myself
67. Journal
68. Work on forearm balancing
69. Resolve my wrist issues
70. Go vegetarian for a month
71. Learn to cook tofu more appealingly
72. Try making sushi
73. Learn to cook fish more exotically
74. Discover new ingredients for my daily pantry
75. Blog more frequently, more intelligently, more creatively
76. Watch a movie classic every month
77. Read 5 classic novels
78. Go to bed earlier
79. Buy a pair of frivilous shoes
80. Have sex outside
81. Go to a drive in movie with the kids
82. Go white water rafting
83. Set up a hiking club with girlfriends
84. Organize Wild Women excursions
85. Go horseback riding
86. Eat a fruit everyday for a month, then the next month
87. Try a new bottle of wine every month
88. Listen to every song I have in itunes
89. Resize my Nana's rings
90. Canoe trip in Algonquin
91. Trip to Tait Lake
92. Buy a piece of art
93. Take a kick boxing class
94. Hike the Bruce Trail and record "legs"
95. Grow some summer food
96. Write 10 inspirational notes and leave them somewhere in the public
97. Try saying "yes" instinctively
98. Create homemade Christmas gifts
99. Reach out to close friends near and afar
100. Tell those I love, "I LOVE YOU" often
101. Ask the universe for what I want

This is Day Zero...and so it begins!