Fennel, and Fitness As We Age

52 @ 50 - no. 5 - Fennel for the First Time!

The 52 new things I'm doing in my 50th year don't need to be adrenaline-fuelled challenges, I'm quite happy with them being more gentle explorations into what life has to offer...so this week I'm eating Fennel for the first time!!  Am I the only one who has never tried it?? I don't know exactly why I haven't - possibly it's the smell? It's very aniseed-y, like liquorice, which I don't dislike but don't really want with my dinner. But I had it on good authority that when it's cooked the flavour is much softer and is really delicious! As I'm aiming to be particularly open-minded this year I couldn't really refuse to give it a go.... 

I've been in this scenario before. When I was a child I allowed my mind to decide what I did or didn't like rather than basing my decision on trying things to see if I actually liked them. And more recently when I had thought for about 40 years of my life that I didn't like olives, went to a tapas bar in Barcelona and lo and behold discovered that I love them! What else am I missing out on?  

So, fennel duly bought from Waitrose and other ingredients gathered, I made Roasted Fennel with Parmesan for dinner tonight. And..... I liked it!  

Here's the very easy recipe I used:

Roasted Fennel with Parmesan

You will need:

I fennel bulb
Olive oil
Salt, pepper
Balsamic Vinegar
Parmesan cheese 

Here's how to make it:

• Cut the fennel in half from top to bottom, then into quarters, then divide again.
• Place the sections in a baking tray and drizzle with olive oil, salt, pepper and a splash of Balsamic Vinegar
• Roast in the oven at 180 degrees (gas mark 4) for about 30-40 minutes until soft and starting to caramelise.
• Remove from the oven and grate Parmesan over the top.
• Serve as a side dish or as part of a warm salad.

Exercise and Fitness for Healthy Ageing

My yoga practice helps me to stay fit and well. I have a regular practice that is sometimes dynamic and sometimes quieter and more restorative, depending on what I feel I need that day. The arm balances like handstand build my strength, the Sun Salutations and Vinyasa flow make me sweat and the slow stretches help me relax and stay flexible - it's a good balance, this yoga!  

But it's always fun to add some variety into my exercise routine. I love to run because it gets me outside in the fresh air and gives me the opportunity to take in the wonderful views that Mother Nature offers where I live on the edge of the North Downs. I walk every day with The Furry Guru too - having a dog makes you get outside every day, rain or shine because the dog needs his exercise too and I have a responsibility as a dog owner to honour that commitment. 

The weekend before last there was a whole series of articles in The Times on Saturday about healthy ageing which made me think about adding something else in to my exercise routine - maybe swimming or cycling - to keep my fitness levels up in the coming years. One of the things I love about yoga is that there's always a new and more challenging posture to learn which is very empowering - my practice is improving as I age rather than declining. This helps my general health and mental wellbeing too, and I want it to stay that way. 

You may have read the articles, but I thought I'd share some of them with you as it's always helpful to have a reminder about keeping ourselves healthy - life is often so busy and tiring that it's easy to put off doing the very things that are the most beneficial for us.  

Here's what Matt Roberts, the celebrity fitness trainer, has to say about maintaining your fitness as you age:

"As your body adapts to the changes that ageing brings, you need to switch the focus of your exercise:

Men in their forties: Muscles need extra work from the age of 40, because muscle mass declines with age. Lift heavy weights for the major muscle groups three times each week, and do not neglect your legs and bottom. In addition, do high-intensity cardio (running, cycling, swimming) to burn fat and boost your testosterone levels.

Men in their fifties: If you feel comfortable running, do that. If not, take up cycling. There is a reason why the cycling 'mamil' (middle aged man in lycra) exists: cycling is kind to your ageing tendons, muscles and joints because it entails less impact than running. Intersperse your cardio with some weekly interval or HIT sessions too, at least once a week.

Men in their sixties: At this age, men should use a foam roller and properly stretch out the limbs and muscles for at least 20 minutes a day, every day. This will help to alleviate the higher levels of stiffness and aches after a workout and improve overall flexibility. Do core stability work and Pilates to keep the abdominals strong and to protect the spine. Weight training is important for keeping weight in check - try heavy lifting once a week. Don't do any more than that because you don't want to strain the tendons and ligaments - recovery from injury takes much longer at this age.

Women in their forties: This is the decade in which to build your endurance levels. Do lots of running, cycling, walking and swimming, which will keep you lean, fit and with high energy levels. Take up yoga and either Pilates or core strength training if you don't already do it. Yoga will help you to maintain your flexibility - it's naturally high when you enter your forties, so don't let it slip away.

Women in their fifties: During this decade a woman's hormone levels undergo the biggest shift since puberty and it's really important to keep your muscle and tendon strength high, and to keep your bone density strong with plenty of resistance exercise. Make sure you lift moderate to heavy weights two or three days a week alongside a programme of cardio (running, swimming or cycling), core and yoga work. Oestrogen levels will be beginning to drop as the menopause approaches. As a result, women often find they gain weight (about 1lb a year on average). To counteract this, run if you feel that your joints can cope with it, or swim at high intensity instead. Short, fast interval training in the pool will burn calories and strengthen your core.

Women in their sixties: Every day, ideally before breakfast, power-walk with real intent (so that you can burn fat more effectively). Aerobic activity on an empty stomach forces your body to utilise its fat stores for energy and walking is a great way to do it. Use weights and do body-weight exercises (such as lunges, squats and press-ups) between two and four times a week to ensure that you keep muscles and tendons strong and well-functioning It's also crucial to maintain flexibility because mobility declines further in this decade, so take up yoga or Pilates."

Tao Porchon-Lynch - 97 years old and still teaching yoga

The Times then offered this advice, words I love to hear...

Take Up Yoga

Back pain, all-round joint stiffness and a worsening ability to touch your toes are signs that middle age is taking its toll. They are also the most common triggers for men and women in midlife to take up yoga or Pilates.

The approaches have similarities, namely releasing pent-up physical tension, ironing out your posture and helping you to move more freely. With yoga the emphasis is more on flexibility, with Pilates on developing core control. Proponents of each will tell you why one usurps the other in terms of benefits, but there is little to distinguish the two when you weigh up the scientific evidence. Both yoga and Pilates focus, albeit differently, on controlled breathing, which has been shown to lower stress levels.

Dr Loren Fishman, a researcher at Columbia University, has shown that yoga aficionados develop increased bone density in their spine and hips compared with those who don't do yoga. At Queen's University in Ontario, researchers found Pilates to be beneficial for middle-aged people suffering back pain.

What really matter to most middle-aged converts, though, is how yoga and Pilates make you feel mentally as well as physically. Yoga, the most studied of the two disciplines, has been proven to enhance mood and reduce anxiety. With both, posture and flexibility (which comes naturally in your twenties and thirties and declines after 40) will improve.

Then there was a section about meditation.... 

How Meditation Keeps You Young by Andy Puddicombe, meditation expert

Andy Puddicombe, a former Buddhist monk who has helped to bring meditation into the mainstream, says that meditation can not only help people to achieve greater peace of mind, but also has anti-ageing benefits. And there are now plenty of studies that back this up.

"There are health benefits to practising meditation no matter how old you are, and it can be particularly helpful as we age," says Puddicombe. His Headspace app with guided meditation for beginners has about 3 million users.

Puddicombe points to studies that have found differences in the brain scans of meditators and non-meditators. The brain's prefrontal cortex - associated with personality, expression, attention and decision-making - gets thinner with age, but those who practised meditation were found to have thicker prefrontal cortexes than those who did not. A study in 2013 by the psychiatry department of Harvard Medical School showed that people who meditated daily for four years had longer telomeres - the protective caps on the ends of chromosomes - than those who did not. Short telomeres have been linked to premature cellular ageing. 

Another study showed that people who meditate have better blood flow to the brain, leading to improvements in memory and attention. Other significant health benefits across every age group are better sleep, lower blood pressure, improved immunity and the ability to stay centred in an increasingly stressful world.

"By the time we get to 40, 50 or 60, many of us have negative patterns established in our minds and we think, "That's it, this is who I am and there's no way of changing." But it's never too late to change those things," says Puddicombe. "We go to the gym and train a muscle which gets thicker and stronger as it receives more blood flow. In the same way, when we train the mind in a methodical way with mindfulness and meditation, the part of the brain associated with happiness and wellbeing receives more blood flow."

The 43 year old says that the biggest misconception about meditation is that you have to keep a blank and clear mind. "I was a monk in the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, and what I loved about that training is that it embraced the madness of life," he says. "Even there, in the monastery, there was a lot going on, and your mind produced thoughts that you wished weren't there, so it's not about being quiet 24/7.

"Meditation is about shifting perspective so that we can be more accepting of what's happening in our lives. You have to say, "Ok, this is my life and this is my situation, and how can I work it in a more positive way?"

Ideally, he says, you should take ten minutes to do a simple meditation every day. Take a couple of deep breaths and close your eyes. Become aware of your senses, the feelings in the body, the sounds and the smells around you. Don't think about them, simply notice them. Next, become aware of the breath. You don't need to breathe in a special way, just notice how the rising and falling movement of the breath feels in the body. Each time the mind wanders, gently bring it back to that same point of focus, the sensation of the breath. 

The most important thing, Puddicombe says, is to find a place where you will not be physically disturbed. You can sit on a chair with your arms and legs uncrossed. Don't listen to music - it may help you to feel relaxed, but that's not what meditation is about. It's about clarity."

I hope that reading this has inspired you to get out and get your body moving this weekend, and to take some time to get still and quiet as medicine for your mind too. Take care of your health - it is precious and not guaranteed..... Which reminds me of one of my favourite quotes (author unknown) about getting older....

Your Questions Answered... what is a 'drishti'?...

A drishti is the point on which the eyes focus during a posture. When the eyes are wandering around the room, the mind is often unsteady too. Fixing the eyes helps the mind to concentrate so that we become completely absorbed in what we are doing rather than being distracted by the thoughts.

There are 9 drishtis:

1. the tip of the nose
2. the thumbs
3. the third eye (between and above the eyebrows)
4. the navel
5. up towards the sky
6. the hands
7. the toes
8. to the left
9. to the right

Often when we do a posture the drishti comes in naturally, eg. in a seated forward bend we tend to look towards the toes, but sometimes when we are distracted and lost in thought we don't notice. Next time you roll out your mat to practice, pay attention to where your eyes rest (or don't rest). Make a conscious decision to fix them steadily on one point and see how focusing your gaze helps to quieten your mind and bring you fully into the pose and the present moment. 


This Week's Musical Offering

A 50 minute track called The Oneness Om by Ananda Giri. I played this in class this week for Savasana but it's equally good for a slow, stretchy practice too.

And finally, I'm sharing some good advice I'm using to guide me through my 50th year....

from How To Be An Explorer of the World by Keri Smith

Until next time, stay curious....