Dr. Weil Takes On Aging Well

Dr. Andrew Weil, noted complementary care physician and author of best selling, 8 Weeks to Optimum Health, turns his attention to aging well in a book entitled, Healthy Aging: A Lifelong Guide to Your Physical and Spiritual Well-Being. Subject of a Time Magazine cover story in October of 2005, Weil’s book provides advice on accepting, rather than fighting the aging process, and adopting behaviors which maximize physical, emotional and spiritual health. The author takes a hard line on the "anti-aging" industry, seeing our culture’s fight against aging as counterproductive. Instead he provides inspiration and insight from his many years of practicing integrative medicine which seeks to combine the best of traditional medicine with alternative medicine. He also looks to cultures such as Okinawa and Sardinia where long life spans are common and "aging gracefully" is the norm. His "12-point program for healthy aging" focuses on proper nutrition, moderate exercise, stress reduction and rest. Weil wants us to view aging not so much as a battle, but an important journey. He writes, "Aging can bring frailty and suffering, but it can also bring depth and richness of experience, complexity of being, serenity, wisdom, and its own kind of power and grace."