Unlocking the Fountain of Youth: Secrets for Maintaining Youthful Vitality and Longevity

Imagine stepping back in time, your body brimming with youthful energy and vitality, even well into your forties. It's not a Hollywood film plot, it's my own personal journey and in this episode, I share the secrets that have helped me maintain this vigor. I am far from perfect but I am curious to see what is working.

"The heart is the real fountain of youth"
-Mark Twain,


Prepare to challenge everything you thought you knew about aging as we explore lifestyle changes, from reducing alcohol and caffeine to practicing meditation and simplifying our lives. These could be your keys to unlocking your own fountain of youth.

The second part of our journey takes us into the heart of Tibet, guided by the intriguing books, "The Fountain of Youth and The Five Tibetan Rites."

We'll traverse the tale of two friends and their quest for the legendary fountain of youth. Spoiler alert: it's not a magic potion, but a series of practices and exercises that can alter our body's inner chemistry. From the five Tibetan rites to the seven chakras, get ready for an enlightening exploration. Remember, wisdom is in application and the secret to youthful vitality could be just a practice away.

So buckle up, your journey to a healthier, stronger, and more youthful self starts here.


Practice here:
Video for the 5 Tibetan rites



If you'd like to contribute to the show  so you get more content like this->

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:02

In this episode, I'm going to be talking to you about the mystical fountain of youth and the spiritual secrets behind it that can help you enjoy greater usefulness, vitality and an overall sense of longevity. Prepare to bring an open mind. Hello and welcome to the James Grant from podcast Super Soul Model series, where I help you tune and tap into your own natural state of well-being. We are only just touching the surface about how long we can actually live as human beings. The normal lifespan of human beings in this current modern day is to about 75 for most men and sometimes 85 for most females, and this is way shorter than it could be. There are people living in high regions of mountainous areas, like the Hunza Valley in Pakistan or the Villa Kabamba in Peru, where people are well into their hundreds living. So why are people only living to 75 or 85, if you're male or female? And that is because of the way we're actually living. And so in this episode, I want to share with you ways in which you can increase your longevity, you can increase your vitality, you can increase your youthfulness. Now I'm only at the age of 48, and at 48, I'm going to share with you some of the things that I've been applying for the last 20 odd years that have kept me in a state of youthfulness, vitality and vigor, and I'm hoping that I can come back and share this or even more findings in a further 40 years to say, hey, this is still working for me. Now I get stopped so many times for people saying you look much younger than you are, which is a wonderful blessing and it's a wonderful compliment, but I put it down to a lot of these habits, which are the habits that I do day in, day out and have done for over 20 years Now. Most people aren't disciplined enough, but at some level of my being I decided I really need to have some discipline, because I didn't have any discipline, I was very undisciplined, and when I began to apply these disciplines and put these routines into a day to day practice, I noticed that I had more energy, I noticed that I felt better, I noticed that my skin was better, I noticed that I had more clarity, I noticed that my mind was clean and clear and I could receive good ideas, and it's just been a constant process of evolution and if I share with you some of these practices that will help you reach your own level of youthfulness, vitality, that will lead to a greater state of longevity. The proof will be in your own experience, the proof will be in your own pudding. And if one or two of these ideas that I share in this particular episode really resonate with you, then that is enough. Then the job is done, then the message is clear, because you can only really take away what you're willing to apply. And sometimes, for me, I've learned so much stuff only to just wait a couple of years before I actually begin to put it into practice.

Speaker 1: 3:16

And the title of this episode is the Secrets to Youth, vitality and Longivity. And I picked up this book, which was called the Fountain of Youth, the Five Tibetan Rights. Now, for a couple of years I felt as though I was living in a library in South West London for a little while, reading as much as I could, absorbing as much as I could, and I came across this little book. And this little book just really spoke to me. It really resonated with me because I was so interested in health, because my family lineage weren't necessarily the most healthy people. In fact, I was like an alcohol addict, I had a hedonistic lifestyle and that was causing me a lot of mental suffering and the idea of having perfect health, the idea of having a youthful vitality and having a sense of longevity and looking good for years, really spoke to me, because my career at the time was male modeling and I thought, well, what if I could look good for a really long period of time? But what I didn't realize was when I began to apply a lot of the things that I picked up in the books, I realized that I would begin to feel better, because all knowledge is nothing unless it's applied, because that's what wisdom is, and the reason why this podcast has been set up is to hopefully share with you some wisdom of things that actually work. But they won't work unless you try them out.

Speaker 1: 4:45

So this book that I picked up, called the Five Tibetan Rites, is a very small book. I'll put a link to it in the show notes and you can read it and essentially I was blown away because the premise is there's two friends talking to one another and they were conscious of this idea that they'd heard that someone in Tibet had discovered the fountain of youth and the colonel, who was the main guy who'd heard of this fountain of youth, had spoken to his friend and he says I'm going to go and discover and find the fountain of youth and bring it back. Now the story is that 20 years or so passed and he comes back and knocks on the door of his friend. 20 years later they hadn't spoken to one another and the guy opens the door older, grayer, fuller in the face, a lot more lines on their face to open the door to a guy who looked in his forties and he was thinking who's this guy? And he says don't you recognize me? I'm the colonel. And he goes oh my God, you haven't aged.

Speaker 1: 5:49

What's happened, and the story goes, is that the fountain of youth wasn't what people thought it was, which was some magic pill or drinking some magic potion. It was a way of living. It was certain exercises that you could do. It was certain practices that one could apply. It was a certain way of living life that would change the inner chemicals inside of the body. And that's what I want to share with you in this episode.

Speaker 1: 6:21

And this story isn't necessarily true, but the premise is very interesting, even though there is no scientific evidence that this actually works. But what I do like is to apply things to see does it work for me? And if you can look at something with a healthy level of scepticism and think well, if I apply this for a short amount of time, will the results I get make me feel good? Will it make me feel better? And that is the measurement I would like you to think of, because the practices that I want to share with you here, these ideas, could potentially improve your youthful vigor, could improve a sense of vitality and energy, make you look younger, make you look healthier and give you a sense of strength, of inner strength inside of your body.

Speaker 1: 7:13

So the book goes on to share five exercises, and the five exercises with the five rights are five yoga movements, but unlike yoga, which is pretty much static movements, in some cases these are movements that are done 21 times and they're five movements and really what they're doing is they are opening the chakras, which are the seven vortices inside of your body, the seven energy centers. They go from your base chakra, which is your security, to your second chakra, which is your sacral, to do with relationships and love and sex and emotions. To your power center, which is in your solar plexus, which is to do with how confident and powerful you feel. To number four, which is your heart chakra, which is your ability to give and receive love. To. Number five, which is your throat chakra and your ability to speak your truth. Number six, which is your brow chakra, which is your ability to receive insight and intuition. And, last but not least, your crown chakra is your ability to connect to spiritual wisdom and to connect with the universe, to know that you are one with the universe and the universe is one with you. These seven chakra points, these seven vortices when they are operating at a harmonic level, you begin to thrive and your body will stay in this state of youthful vigor and you'll be essentially tapping in to the fountain of youth.

Speaker 1: 8:46

Now in the book it says you need to do these practices 21 times, and the reason why they do 21 times is, according to the Lama's or the ancient priest, 21 was a mystical number. You can see it as 2 plus 1 equals 3, which is like the Holy Trinity. Now, 21 times to do these movements takes roughly about five minutes. Now, not everybody's got five minutes, but I started doing this exercise every single day, 21 times, and I realized after a while I thought five minutes is quite a long time for me to do these exercises in the morning. What if I did it 12 times? Because 12 is still 1 plus 2, which is 3, which is still the mystical number. And so, again, I'm still tapping into this mystical number and I like to do things in my own way rather than just take them from what I read in books or what someone has passed down. And I encourage you and implore you to do the same. Even if you did these exercises three times, I mean, you could have that finished done in a very short amount of time.

Speaker 1: 9:48

It's all about what you're willing to do, but I am a guinea pig on myself, because I really want to know what works and what doesn't. And if it's going to improve the quality of my life, then I really want to try it, because I came from a family where my parents didn't know how to best take care of themselves. It didn't come from a generation who knew what to eat or knew how to exercise. They just did what they had learned and seen other people do. And I had started to do exactly the same thing, only to suffer mentally and physically. And so I decided that unless I educate myself and empower myself, I'm never going to know what perfect health is going to be like, and so anything that I could grab my hands on with regards to health, wellness and vitality and longevity I wanted to know about, because I'd nearly died before and I didn't want to have that happen again and leave, you know, be a statistic of a kid who died early. That was really my massive why, why I would be prepared to do what it takes to enjoy greater health, happiness and vitality.

Speaker 1: 10:56

Now here I am, years later, and I'm now teaching what I've read. I'm teaching what I've applied, and this wasn't something that I ever thought about. This was just something that peaked in interest, because of my own pain, and when I realized that I feel really good most of the time, then I just thought that's a great indicator for sharing and helping people along the way. So what are the other practices that you could begin to apply that would be able to help you enjoy greater youth, vitality and longevity, according to the five Tibetan rites? Now I'm going to blend this with a bit of Buddhism as well, because Alama is a Buddhist ancient spiritual teacher, like the Dalai Lama, for instance, and I have began, little by little, to thread the needle of some of these wisdoms just to see would they work for me, because I don't live in a temple, I don't live in a monastery, but what I do want to do is I want to know what perfect health is like in the modern world and teach that to the masses. Teach that to the people who are willing to learn to see can you live in a way that's in harmony with the world within, harmony with nature, and keep yourself well for a long period of time, and that's what I want to share with you. That's what I'm sharing with the people.

Speaker 1: 12:21

So the second thing that the Lamas were teaching was a light diet and having two meals a day. Now, I don't always adhere to this, but what I do adhere to is this light diet, because I am eating a vegetarian, vegan food, and I have done for a very long period of time nearly two decades now, more than two decades and what it suggests is that when you eat a light, lighter diet, what it's actually doing is not putting pressure on the digestive system, and so eating a ton of fruits and veggies is making your digestive system easier to break down the nutrients, which produces more hydrogen, which fuels your body, because your body is predominantly 70% water. So that's what the nutrients are trying to break down at a molecular level, and when you eat heavy foods, what it's actually doing is putting more pressure on the digestive system, using up more of your energy, which is essentially at a very small level, aging you or causing entropy. So stress is causing entropy and aging. And when you are eating light, you are creating more expansiveness, creating more life for yourself. So the lighter your diet, the longer you will live. The heavier diet, the shorter you will live. So if you're eating a lighter diet, if you're eating everything from mother nature, your body's be able to absorb and turn that energy into something really good that will give you longevity.

Speaker 1: 13:55

Now, the next on the list that you could begin to apply to enjoy greater youthfulness, vitality and vigor and longevity is refraining from alcohol. Now, everybody knows this, but not everybody does it. Now, I was the guy that used to drink every single day and, in order for me to get out of my own mental suffering, I realized I needed to let go of the alcohol, and that was difficult for me, but yet somehow I managed to do it, because I realized all the problems that I was facing were alcohol related. Now, that might not be you. You might enjoy a nice glass of wine sometimes, or you might enjoy a nice glass of champagne, or you might enjoy a beer. Now, there's nothing wrong with that. But just see if you could begin to apply this from time to time and give yourself a break so you notice that when you give yourself a refrain from alcohol, do you feel better? Because the proof will come from the results, by how good you feel.

Speaker 1: 14:55

Now I'm probably a bit more of an extreme case, because, although I'm not a lama, and although I'm not a doctor, and although I don't live in a monastery, I am wanting to apply these things because I know they'll make me feel better, which will make me live longer, which will allow me to live my life's purpose, which is to empower more people through health, happiness and well-being, because the better you feel, the better life gets, and it creates this wonderful win-win. So my reason for abstaining from alcohol is greater than my reason for having alcohol. Everybody's different and you take from it what you can. The next practice that you could begin to apply on the list would be to refrain from caffeine, because caffeine spikes the blood. Now there are two different camps. Some people think that caffeine is good for you. Coffee is good for you. I don't want to take that away from anybody. If you love your coffee, you have it.

Speaker 1: 15:54

But this is just something that I noticed that in my body because I'm really sensitive is that when I had caffeine, my mood would be up and down and up and down. Now that might not be the case for you, but I noticed that I'd get a rush and then I'd have a dip, and then I'd have a rush and then I'd have a dip, and then I noticed that I would be becoming addicted to caffeine. You drink a lot of tea and a lot of coffee and I realized that if I didn't have a cup of tea or I didn't have a cup of coffee, then I realized I was really low on energy and I felt that I was a slave to this drink. I was a slave to this particular drug. So I was like I want freedom from that. So little by little, I began to switch to herbal teas and the rest is history. Again, that's been 20 years Now.

Speaker 1: 16:45

Number five on the list to apply to increase your youthful vigor, to increase your vitality and even the years in your life, is to practice this really simple Buddhist philosophy and this is tricky, but bear with me and it's to practice non-violence, which means to not cause any other living thing pain. When I watch TV, I try to watch non-violent films, I try to watch fun films, funny films, uplifting films, but nothing that's, you know, a shoot to Marple, horror or anything like that. And when it comes to bugs, I try not to kill anything, I just try to pick them up and put them outside, because I realized that everything in this world is precious. Now, sometimes there are pests and you have to deal with things, but just this understanding of trying to practice non-violence gives you a sense of gentleness, which is incredible power, which puts less stress on the body, because any time there's hatred, any time there is violence, what you're actually doing is aging yourself without you realizing, because you're producing the chemicals inside of your body that produces entropy.

Speaker 1: 17:52

Now, the next on the list for males is sperm retention. Now, this is a tricky subject and I'll do my best to explain it. And really, what it's saying in this book is that when you ejaculate, what you're actually doing is releasing life force. You're releasing your own physical energy, and the reason why making a child, or producing a child with a male and female, is so powerful is because the seed meets the egg and that is full of life force and love, and when that's done with love, it's really powerful energetically. But when you're giving it away through promiscuous sex, what you're actually doing is giving away life force, which is actually depleting your energy and creating entropy and aging. So people who are renowned for living a long time are able to cultivate this, and it's found more in Asia than it is in the West. But I came across a teacher called Mantak Chia who really talks about this and I was fascinated by it. So I like to practice long periods of celibacy just so that I can cultivate this energy within Now. Again, it's not for everybody, but it just depends on where you're at mentally, emotionally and spiritually.

Speaker 1: 19:09

The next practice that you could begin to apply that will help you with your youth vitality and longevity is practicing silence, awareness, going into a state of meditation. Just 20 minutes a day will reduce immense amounts of cortisol, reducing the way that your chemicals form inside of your body. This also produces new neural networks in your brain. That produces more calm, more harmony, more well-being and will stop the aging process. And just simple 20 minutes every single morning will help you cultivate more and more energy, more and more life force, which will make you look younger for longer. So just practicing silent awareness moments of pause throughout the day is a profound way that you can tap into this fountain of youth. And if you don't know how to meditate, for sure, go over to my page where I've given seven ways to meditate in seven days that you can begin to just try and practice how to meditate. If you're new to it, it's the one practice above all that I swear by.

Speaker 1: 20:19

The next on the list, number eight, is to learn how to travel light and simplify your life. The more simple you can make it, the more stress is eliminated from your day-to-day life. When you go traveling, do you always over pack? Do you always take way too much? Try taking less? When you shop at the supermarket, do you always try and get everything, or do you just try and simplify your meals? When you're making food, do you want to make them complex? Because every time that you're thinking, how can I simplify things, how can I simplify this meal, how can I simplify my life Meaning, how can I declutter things, you're taking away excessive emotional baggage which takes a lot of weight off your shoulders but, more importantly, a lot of weight off your mind, which takes a lot of stress out of the chemicals produced inside of your body and stresses the chemical that creates entropy and aging. So you want to tap into the fountain of youth. Ask yourself this question where can I simplify my life today? And you'll start to tap into your own fountain of youth just by asking that question Now.

Speaker 1: 21:30

The penultimate practice that you can begin to apply to start tapping into this fountain of youth is to commune with nature daily. The more time you harmonize yourself with nature, you hang out in nature, the more you get accustomed to its vibe, the more you get accustomed to its very relaxed, tranquil frequency. And what that's actually doing is you're sponging nature's energy. And nature's frequency is an alpha pattern, meaning it's the flow state. And the more time you spend walking in parks, by being by the sea, being in the mountains, being near the fields, what you're going to realize is you start to harmonize and sync up with this very relaxed pattern. Again, this is not a stressful pattern. This is a pattern of flow, and whenever we're in stress, it's because we are not around nature, we're not synced up to nature and we are nature. And sometimes the best way to remind yourself is to commune with it.

Speaker 1: 22:34

Spend some time in nature every single day, because each time you gaze at the stars, or each time you hang in the park or you're near trees, or you're near the water, or you're near the rivers or you're near the ocean, you start to realize that this beautiful connection that you have with it and this helps you again tap into your fountain of youth. And, last but not least, another way for you to tap into your fountain of youth is to learn from children. See how they play, see how much they giggle, see how much they laugh, see how they use their imagination to make things up and be creative and play pretend games. Their imagination is phenomenal and when you watch children, what you're actually realizing is you're watching how we can return to that level of consciousness that life is meant to be fun, and having great people around you also cultivates a sense of community and wellness. So, whether you have the ability to hang with older people who are wise and happy, and watching young children play, this is a beautiful spectrum for you to be able to navigate your life, so you can tap into the fountain of youth, because the better you feel, the better life will become.

Speaker 1: 23:53

I hope you've enjoyed today's episode and I hope that maybe some of these ideas for you to tap into the fountain of youth that you have access to will help you on your journey. All of these things are just things that I've began to apply in the last 20 odd years and I've noticed how good they've made me feel, and only through your application will you realize what works for you. The more you build a habit with an intention to tap into your own fountain of youth, the more these things will work for you and the better you will look, the better you will feel and the more years you will have to enjoy your life. Life is meant to be enjoyed, life is meant to be fun and until the next episode, I wish you a wonderful week ahead and green lights all the way. Thanks for listening to this episode and if you've enjoyed it, in gotten value and inspiration, please consider leaving a review, because your reviews help push this algorithm up so we can continue to keep giving you better and better content.