Category: Health & Wellness

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08.31.21 | Sage Advice®

The art of meditation and how you can benefit from it

In today’s fast-paced society, rife with uncertainty and change, devoting time to self-care and introspection is more important than ever. At Sage Collective, we support and encourage participating in spiritual or religious experiences as part of our 9 Ways of Vibrant Living. Meditating can be one such practice, revealing a sense of discovery and heightened mindfulness. 

What is meditation?

Meditation is an ancient technique used by many for more than 3,500 years; historians have traced its utilization back to the formation of many world religions. The purpose of meditation is to help train oneself in practicing mindfulness while learning to better understand feelings and emotions to create a healthy perspective. 

Meditating can feel uncomfortable and challenging at first, since it uses techniques that may be unfamiliar. However, this ancient tradition can lead to immense personal growth and understanding for those who find their groove in the routine.

Health benefits

Research suggests that meditating can have enormous positive effects on managing symptoms of anxiety and depression and reducing stress. Other conditions that can benefit from meditation include chronic pain, insomnia, high blood pressure and IBS. And while experts have yet to completely understand how meditation works, research clearly demonstrates the holistic impact it has on one’s health and well-being.    

Tips for how to meditate 

  • Get comfortable. Find a place to sit upright with legs crossed instead of laying down, as it can be easy to find yourself falling asleep. However, comfort is key for meditation, so avoid positions that may prove uncomfortable after several minutes.
  • Keep a timer. It can be easy to worry about time as you start meditating; setting a timer for small increments of 5 to 10 minutes of meditation can be an easy way to avoid that. Scheduling a specific time of the day to meditate can also help with consistency — leading to more beneficial results. 
  • Focus on breathing. It can be an easy way to get into the flow of meditation. As you breathe, observe what it feels like as air enters your body and then leaves it. 
  • Be open-minded. As a new experience, it may be hard to empty your mind during meditation. Emotions and feelings that might be uncomfortable may arise, but don’t ignore them; acknowledge their presence and slowly bring your focus back to breathing. 
  • Don’t give up. It’s also important to remember that meditating takes time and practice to build as a habit, and expecting too much too fast can lead to disappointment. Hang in there, and discover just how much of a life-changer meditation can be!

There is no “right way” to meditate — it is a practice meant to be personalized for each individual and will feel different for everyone. For those looking to become more mindful, self-aware and gain better control over feelings such as anxiety and stress, meditation may be the technique for you. 

If the art of meditation interests you, check out the video below. The 10-minute tutorial guides beginners through their first meditation and is narrated by a mindfulness coach and teacher,  John Davisi.

 

A woman sits cross legged with her hands resting on the top of her legs – meditating.
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Sage Advice®

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08.19.21 | Community

Find the future of efficient workouts in “exercise snacks”

As part of our 9 Ways of Vibrant Living, Sage Collective advocates for moderate and regular physical activity. Developed in pandemic times when it was challenging to find ways to stay active, “exercise snacks” — a new and effective set of movements was born, and has become increasingly popular among older adults. Interestingly, research is demonstrating these snippets of exercise are equally or more effective than traditional workouts!

How to perform exercise snacks

“Exercise snacks” are short bursts of movement anyone can perform throughout the day, allowing people to arrange exercise as their time permits. Because the movements don’t require a fixed or dedicated location to “work out” as we normally define the act of exercising, you can find a host of spaces in your home or office to do squats, sit-ups, walking in place, lunges and more.  

Professor of Kinesiology Dr. Martin Gibala, argues that these brief bursts of exercise throughout the day can trigger the same reaction from our bodies that traditional workouts produce. In his study published by the International Journal of Exercise Science, Gibala and his partners introduced an 11-minute workout consisting of walking and running in place, lunges and other light calisthenics that improve cardiovascular health. One of the many thrilling findings was that the conditioning improved cardiovascular fitness by 7% for those who participated. 

Gibala explains that being rigorous with each movement is fundamental for exercise snacks. It is essential, however, to remember to cater to what works best for your body. 

Sage Collective believes that incorporating exercise snacks into the lives of older adults and anyone looking to fulfill fitness needs can be a fundamental – and easy – way to live vibrantly. That’s why we produced our exercise snack menu based on Dr. Gibala’s workout plan below!

 

A graphic titled "Sage Collective: Exercise Menu" lists eight different "exercise snacks" and times allotted for people to take part in throughout their days.

A graphic titled "Sage Collective: Exercise Menu" lists eight different "exercise snacks" and times allotted for people to take part in throughout their days.
Sage Collective: Exercise Menu
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Sage Advice®

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08.12.21 | Community

Strengthening Communities Through Community Gardens

With summer slowly fading and the harsh months of winter in the distance, the magnetic appeal of growing one’s own vegetables and herbs is more important than ever for many of us. Previously, we’ve talked about the health benefits of gardening and how to raise indoor houseplants, but one hobby we haven’t mentioned is community gardening. 

Community gardens begin as collective spaces managed as a collaborative effort that leverage the expertise, time and energy of fellow gardeners who come together to provide fruits, vegetables and all varieties of fresh produce for anyone in the neighborhood to enjoy. And by their very nature, community gardens also add green space and vibrant beauty to city blocks that may be defined by asphalt and concrete.

With people working closely — literally and figuratively — community gardens improve personal well-being through social connections and have even been found to decrease violence in some neighborhoods. 

Zoe Hansen-DiBello, program manager and visionary at Grow Education, helps promote healthy food access in neighborhoods by implementing community gardens. At TedxNewBedford, Hansen-DiBello explains the all-around engagement and respect that community gardens helped to encourage in a neighborhood close to her. Watch Hansen-DiBello’s talk below. 

Gardens galore in Bronzeville

The popularity of urban farming and the adoption of community gardens can be seen throughout neighborhoods in large cities across the country — including our very own Bronzeville. 

Situated at 4148-4156 S. Calumet Avenue, the Bronzeville Neighborhood Farm connects those living in the neighborhood with the use of green spaces and gardens. Managed by the Bronzeville Alliance and protected by NeighborSpace, the garden is a hub for community members to forge meaningful relationships built on the experience of working together towards a common purpose — tending the gardens and sharing the rich yield of fresh fruits and vegetables with each other and with the community writ large.

The neighborhood is also home to the Bronzeville Community Garden, located at 343 E. 51st Street. Supported by Build Bronzeville, the garden hosts many community events throughout the year including Volunteer Days and Crochet & Conversation meetups. Along with urban farming, the Garden is home to public art projects that enhance the outdoor spaces and provide additional reasons for neighbors to stop.

Starting your own garden

Thinking about starting your own community garden? One of the best places to start, The American Community Gardening Association provides a comprehensive education and resource platform for starting a garden of your own, along with a map of community gardens located across the country. 

A person sits next to a foot stool in a large lot filled with community garden plots. Out of each plot sticks a brightly colored stakes that are numbered. Above the person appears a concrete bridge either for walking or driving.
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Sage Advice®

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08.10.21 | Community

Embracing the cultural process of aging

As we articulate in the Sage Vibrant Living Manifesto, cultural perceptions of aging have an enormous impact on individuals and their communities. As we continue to fight ageism and the traditional American notions of aging that many of us still experience today, we look to the wisdom of others to share new ways of thinking and doing.

Carl Honoré, writer and activist, argues that in order to age better we must feel better about the process. Learning how to age better in a world where aging is presented in a negative frame can be extremely hard, but it only takes a few minutes to change your perspective. In his TED Talk, Honoré explains how to embrace the aging process. Honoré also delves into his method for combating ageist traditions and practices within our lives. Watch below to learn more:

A quote sits on top of an image of two older adults laughing. The quote reads "We need to feel better about aging in order to age better," and is attributed to Carl Honore. The sage logo sits in the bottom right corner.
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08.03.21 | Community

The Science of Laughter

Laughing is something we do numerous times a day without a second thought. Whether we are with friends, watching a funny movie or simply reacting to something that catches us off guard. There is much more behind the infectious response than the loud, quirky and eccentric sounds that come with it. The power of incorporating laughter into your day-to-day routine has huge implications for the quality of your life in the broadest sense. Let’s look further.

Recognizing the impact of laughter’s effects on things such as stress, happiness and health, we at Sage Collective appreciate its importance, especially in relation to our 9 Ways of Vibrant Living. 

Why do we laugh?

Throughout history, laughter has been seen as a social signal. There are many factors that can affect what we find humorous including age, gender, culture or community. Laughter presents itself in most human interactions as the presence of connectivity, comfortability and the strengthening of a shared or mutual relationship. Furthermore, research shows that the more laughter that is present in those relationships, the stronger those connections or bonds become.

The prevailing theory is that there are three types of scenarios that make us laugh: incongruity, superiority and relief. Incongruity theory is rooted in the idea of expecting one outcome, and receiving a totally different one — resulting in laughter. Superiority theory explains that we might find someone else’s weaknesses or mistakes humorous, making us feel superior to them in the moment. Last, relief theory is the use of comedy in tough or uncomfortable situations in order to relieve stress or tension. If you reflect back on what made you laugh today, do you see the reasons falling into one of these categories?

The health benefits of laughing

There are tangible health and wellness benefits for individuals and communities when we all spend more time laughing. From a purely biological perspective, when we laugh, our bodies reduce the levels of stress hormones, in turn lowering our physical stress and anxiety. At the same time, the action also releases serotonin, which leaves us feeling euphoric. As stress hormones diminish, we lower blood pressure and increase blood flow — which directly leads to the oxygenation of our blood to provide us with more energy. 

Incorporating more laughter in your life

Wondering how to add laughter to your life? Start by considering the concept of humor and its relationship to laughter.

Merriam-Webster defines humor as “the mental faculty of discovering, expressing, or appreciating the ludicrous or absurdly incongruous: the ability to be funny or to be amused by things that are funny.” However, because humor is so subjective, it’s nearly impossible to give it a clear-cut definition. Let’s just say that laughter is the direct reaction or acknowledgment that someone has found something humorous.

For some, laughter may come easy. For others, it might be more difficult to find humor in life. Either way, here are some tips for learning to laugh more. 

One of the easiest ways to find laughter is to surround yourself with people who you find funny and entertaining, but with whom you already have a comfortable and strong relationship. Discovering things that make you laugh throughout your daily life and experiencing them more is also a great way to easily find humor. This might be found in the radio station you listen to on your daily drive, or a television show you play in the background while you do chores at home. And if laughter doesn’t come easily for you, consider laughter therapy — it’s a new form of searching for a chuckle by training yourself to look for humor in uncomfortable and difficult situations, rooted in laughter’s relief theory. There are lots of resources available online, and even apps you can download to your phone!

So even if you aren’t the traditional joking type of person or you find it hard to see the comedy in hard situations, dig deep and look for the laughter in your life. You won’t regret it.

A group of people stand around each other looking at a phone and laughing
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Sage Advice®

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07.20.21 | Community

How to Become a Better Listener

Becoming an engaged listener can give you the power to strengthen relationships, validate feelings and empower others. It takes more than just sitting down with someone and hearing what they say to become a better listener, however. Listening is a skill that takes time to practice and master in order to fully appreciate its influence and capability within conversations.

The three C’s of effective listening: compassion, curiosity and courage 

When practicing to become better and more effective listeners, many follow a guide focusing on three main components: compassion, curiosity and courage. The ingredients in this recipe work independently as well as collectively to strengthen the skills needed to become a better listener. Let’s take a closer look.

One of the most important things to show when listening to others in an open and safe environment is compassion. Showing things such as empathy and understanding for someone’s situation—  instead of apathy or disregard — welcomes the opportunity for those sharing to feel more comfortable with the listener, but with their own story and experience, as well.

The presence of curiosity within conversation is also key for displaying interest and affection. Showing your interest and craving to learn more from those speaking can further the feeling of validation and in turn encourage them to continue being open and vulnerable.

You might be wondering how courage comes into play when practicing listening and instead may think it’s more important for speaking. Yet, having the courage to effectively listen to someone often require courage and vulnerability, more so than sharing your own voice. In fact, Winston Churchil famously once said, “Courage is what it takes to stand up and speak; courage is also what it takes to sit down and listen.”

Beyond the three C’s, we should also all aim to apply compassionate witnessing and active listening to become a better and more effective listener.

Compassionate witnessing

Compassionate witnessing, an essential element in effective listening, goes one step beyond being empathetic and compassionate.

Compassionate witnesses understand the act of understanding as key to being a better listener. As a listener, your role isn’t to judge, interrupt or share your thoughts. Your main goal is to create a connecting and welcoming environment where you make the other person feel seen and important. By including compassionate witnessing into your listening environment, feelings and reactions of validity start becoming more familiar to all.

It is also important to enact compassionate witnessing techniques into how we treat ourselves. By making ourselves and others’ words visible and important, we have the opportunity to mold and revolutionize all relationships.

Active listening

Although being a compassionate witness and including the three C’s into your listening habits help you become a better listener, it isn’t enough to just simply sit and listen. Active listening is being fully engaged in the conversation you are a part of, going beyond being a compassionate witness.

There are many aspects of being an active listener, including the use of engaging body language. Opening your body up (not crossing arms and legs, for example) and showing assurance by leaning forward, nodding your head and smiling can all be signs to the speaker you are actively engaging and listening to them.

Another aspect of actively listening includes clarifying and paraphrasing without interrupting the speaker. Clarifying involves asking the speaker for additional information related to what you find interesting or unique in what they are sharing. And in the process of paraphrasing, you have the opportunity to summarize what was said in order to get confirmation and demonstrate that you are understanding the content of the conversation in real time. Both of these techniques are helpful and engaging for those listening, but for the speaker as well.

One of the last things you can offer as an active listener is giving feedback, especially if the person you’re conversing with is open to this kind of change. If they are looking for feedback, it’s important to actively share your thoughts, feelings and constructive advice if you have any.

Becoming a better listener is an ongoing process of building a toolkit of skills and actions, and continuing to draw upon these tools in ways that are uniquely appropriate to any given conversation. And as your listening improves, you’ll come to internalize the mechanics and have endless opportunities to experience the power of reciprocity — the simple pleasure of giving and receiving.

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07.13.21 | Community

How to become a “joyspotting” expert

Similar to taking an awe walk, joyspotting is the intentional act of going out into the world to look for things that spark joy in you. While the word may sound unusual, it’s actually amassed quite a cult following – with entire online groups dedicated to sharing in joyspotting (and their subsequent findings) together. Even if you’re not ready to join an online group just yet, find out how to become a joyspotting expert using our tips below.

The Origins of Joyspotting

Joyspotting is a term first coined by Ingrid Fetell Lee. As a designer, Lee began to notice the relationship between one’s surroundings and their mental health. For example: living in a home filled with bright prints and patterns provides an immediate mood booster. Lee knew this was a counterintuitive principle. So often, society tells us not to derive joy from the things that surround us, but from what’s within us.

In contradiction to this view, Lee sheds light on the relationship between our environment and our emotions, and shares inspiration and resources for living a more joyful life through design in her book, The Aesthetics of Joy. She has also created a website dedicated to this viewpoint, that shares the same name. There is also an online Facebook group that we referenced above, The Joyspotters’ Society.

As Lee became more and more tuned into what caused her joy from her surroundings, she began to develop the habit of intentionally seeking out – or looking to consciously observe – these causes of joy. And hence, joyspotting was born. As she says, “The world seemed to be teeming with tiny, joyful surprises. All I had to do was look for them… It was like I had a pair of rose-colored glasses, and now that I knew what to look for, I was seeing it everywhere. It was like these little moments of joy were hidden in plain sight.” Instead of seeing the world around us as beset with distractors, joyspotting is a way of creating a reservoir of positivity.

Twelve Ways of Joyspotting

To become an avid joyspotter is simple. Look around you and determine something that causes you joy. It could be a pair of colorful, patterned socks worn by the man next to you on the train, or the unexpected sidewalk chalk drawings on a walk around the block. But just in case you need a little bit of help getting started, Lee put together The Joyspotter’s Guide, which outlines her twelve tips for joyspotting. Below, we offer a brief description of those tips.

Look up. Joy often comes from things that float or fly in the sky, whether that’s shapes you find in the clouds, or a stray red balloon. Look down. Maybe you discover a rainbow in a puddle, or a vibrant pair of shoes on a passing pair of feet. Keep an eye out for color. What flashes of blue catch your eye? How does an abundance of green transform the environment? Follow the curve. Life is full of hardness, so where do things get soft around the edges?

Go where the wild things are. There’s always joy to be found in nature, whether it’s enjoying the smell of a rosebush, or listening to birdsong. Seek out symmetry. Where there are mirror patterns, there’s often a surprising sensation of randomness or harmony. Search for signs of abundance. Where do things feel lush and full? It could be a fruit bowl on a family member’s kitchen counter, or a few too many Christmas lights at the neighbor’s house. Joy has a way of spilling over. Watch for weirdness. Where are things out of place, or just out of the ordinary? It’s those standout details that often feel most special.

Zoom in. Focus your attention on the tiniest of details. Notice the invisible. What joy surrounds you that can be felt or heard, but not seen? These sightless observations hold a magic of their own. Similarly, use all your senses! And finally, take the scenic route. The paths you wouldn’t normally take often hold the most surprises, and within those, there’s much joy to discover.

 

Photo of man looking through a spotting scope
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07.01.21 | Community

Vibrant Living Breakdown: Engagement in Social Life

Nine Ways of Vibrant Living is Sage Collective’s innovative model that champions more meaningful, engaged lives for older adults, and that serves as the backbone of our philosophy. We celebrate and uplift components of vibrant living that span from health and wellness, to arts and culture, to spiritual enrichment — but what makes all these life experiences truly shine is our ability to share them with others. That’s why our ninth component is engagement in social life.

Older adults in particular are a population at high risk of experiencing social isolation. The flip side of that risk – and the negative impacts it has on one’s physical and mental well being – means that older adults who are more socially connected often report a better quality of life all around.

The benefits of healthy social connection for older adults are all encompassing and include disease prevention, fewer physical health problems, longevity/length of life, improved cognitive function, better self-esteem, sense of belonging, and maintained purpose of life.

Therefore, at Sage Collective, we strive to provide daily opportunities for social connection and community engagement, whether that’s through our programming or residences. We intend to partner with a host of community organizations, including but not limited to: churches, schools, businesses, and cultural institutions, to provide co-teaching, educational, entrepreneurial and employment opportunities that both enrich and empower our residents.

 

Stay tuned for all these opportunities and more, and in the meantime, you can stay connected with us and our community online through our social media via Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

Friends gathering to socialize and paint
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06.29.21 | Community

Harness the power of awe by taking “awe walks”

Vibrant life encompasses a variety of experiences, from healthy eating to regular fitness to engaging with the world around us. One particularly effective – and unusual – way to pursue vibrant living is to take “awe walks.” The end-goal of these walks is simple:  to simply inspire awe in those who participate. Let’s dig in.

How to take awe walks

“Awe walks” are a more intentional way to approach something as simple as a stroll around the block. The idea is to go for a walk and seek to experience awe along the way. How the walker chooses to experience awe is entirely up to them. Awe can be found in even the smallest of everyday moments, such as appreciating the flight path of a v of migrating geese above, or marveling at the many colors that make up fall foliage.

The study of awe – how it’s inspired, and the impact it has on a person’s wellbeing – has been a primary area of focus for psychologists since the early 2000s. Just recently, a 2020 study was published in the journal Emotion examining the impact of awe walks on a population of older adults.

In the study, sixty older adults took 15-minute awe walks for a period of eight weeks. Perhaps the most exciting finding of the study was the increasing feelings of compassion and gratitude in the control group that took such awe walks. Compared to the normal-walk-talking counterparts, the awe walkers were much more focused on observing the world around them.

“One of the key features of awe is that it promotes what we call ‘small self,’ a healthy sense of proportion between your own self and the bigger picture of the world around you,” explained Dr. Virginia Sturm, lead investigator and associate professor of neurology and psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the University of California at San Francisco.

You can trust the science – or you can just as easily try it out for yourself and see what awe you uncover.

View from above of people taking a walk
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Sage Advice®

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06.21.21 | Health & Wellness

Can going to church or the art museum extend your life expectancy?

At Sage Collective, we champion 9 Ways of Vibrant Living, an inspired model that champions a full, happy and high-quality life. And while we’re focused on the quality of life, it’s possible that the quantity of life (aka life expectancy) is also intrinsically linked to it. So when we talk about components to vibrant living such as engagement in spirituality or religion and engagement in social life, can these components really bring about a longer life? Science says yes.

A Swedish study in 1996 of more than 12,000 people in Sweden found that “attending cultural events correlated with increased survival, while people who rarely attended cultural events had a higher risk of mortality.” A follow-up study in 2000 reported similar findings, stating: “We found a higher mortality risk for those people who rarely visited the cinema, concerts, museums, or art exhibitions compared with those visiting them most often.”

You can also find a comprehensive list of studies conducted to test similar hypotheses on the impact of social connectedness and cultural immersion on an individual’s health and overall mortality rate here. These studies include considerations of social and cultural immersion across a broad swath of types – including number of relationships, depth of social support, types of activities and their social involvement. 

However, the findings ring the same across the broad spectrum of social and cultural involvement: all these things are truly good for one’s health and life expectancy. As strong believers in the power of vibrant living, we’re not surprised. It is vitally important to live a life filled with curiosity, purpose, joy, and love. Participating in cultural events such as going to the museum or attending church regularly provide all these things and more – and they just might provide a boost to your overall health, too.

A girl stands in front of a series of paintings on a gallery wall
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