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What inspires you?

When you think about the people and experiences that have really inspired you, what was it that struck a chord with you? In each case was it a novel learning experience, uplifting or even life changing? When you have been inspired into action did you find that the steps you took were more creative, smoother and took less effort than something you felt forced to do?

The purpose of Inspire Ageing.com is to raise our expectations of what our true potential for health and well being is – irrespective of our genetic makeup, gender, ethnicity – and especially our age. It is about looking at easier ways of achieving this and making what we learn habitual so we remain resilient and robust whatever our age. Over the coming weeks one of our most interesting and up-to-date themes will be covered in the ‘Habit for Habit’ series. If you are serious about making changes and sticking to them this could be of immense practical benefit to you.

It is also about keeping an open mind about what we think we know and understand; what we believe about our health and well being and how this affects our thoughts, feelings and behaviours each and every day.Towards this end we will cover a diverse range of topics, from enhancing mood to advancing movement, from healthy eating and drinking to avoiding the slippery slop to senescence. We will include practical and simple exercises which will help to assess your current status and may be the trigger to literally taking the first step towards a life you love.

Lastly we all have an ability to empower to inspire others. When we pursue our daily lives with passion and enthusiasm, we already have something which is very valuable to us and everyone around us.

Join me regularly on Inspire Ageing. Let’s just see how much more healthy and well we can feel every day.

H4H. The Basal Ganglia: The bottom-up ‘engines’ for habitual responses

H4H. The Basal Ganglia: The bottom-up ‘engines’ for habitual responses

This is the second of the series where we look under the bonnet of the brain to see how different areas of the brain are involved in the formation and maintenance of different habitual responses. Our aim is to use this knowledge to make or change these connections when we need to do so. Aside…

H4H. Mapping the brain circuits. The Pre-Frontal Cortex (PFC): providing top-down control including brakes!

H4H. Mapping the brain circuits. The Pre-Frontal Cortex (PFC): providing top-down control including brakes!

This is the first of a series of articles devoted to ‘Mapping the Brain Circuits’. In the series I hope to explain in simple terms how connections between the PFC, Basal Ganglia, Midbrain and Limbic System are involved in learning and habit formation and more importantly how we can influence their functions in a positive…

H4H.  How trying too hard and other stressors may trigger the ‘vicious cycle’

H4H. How trying too hard and other stressors may trigger the ‘vicious cycle’

In 2012, Kevin Na, a successful US professional golfer, was leading the final round of a prestigious golf tournament in the United States when his form suddenly deserted him. He slumped to a score of 74 and ended up in 7th place. This story may not have been particularly unusual were it not for the…

Fries or Fried Part 3: Are you robust? The TUG test can help you find out.

Fries or Fried Part 3: Are you robust? The TUG test can help you find out.

In an article preceding this series we suggested that a simplified questionnaire, which takes less than a minute to carry out, could help you identify early warning signs of pre-frailty. More importantly we provided advice about what to do if you obtained any positive responses to the questions. In part one of this series we…

Fries or Fried Part 2. Are you sedentary enough to become pre-frail?

Fries or Fried Part 2. Are you sedentary enough to become pre-frail?

In a survey of over 30,000 people aged 50+, across 12 European countries, more than one in four females and just over one in six males met the criteria for being pre-frail. In the same study (SHARE) published in 2010, over 7% of females and 3% of males were classified as frail. The question is…

H4H Question: Are you too old to learn how to strengthen your will-power? Answer: No because it’s child’s play!

H4H Question: Are you too old to learn how to strengthen your will-power? Answer: No because it’s child’s play!

If you are involved in raising children or, having passed that stage, grandchildren, or if neither, I am sure you will still have experienced and heard a young child ‘going off’ on a full blown bottom-up-hot-system led temper tantrum. Some might describe the child as “wilful”. Some kids faced with a “no” or “not now”…

H4H How to control your brain ‘waves’? Believe in ‘Free Will’ and ‘Free Won’t’

H4H How to control your brain ‘waves’? Believe in ‘Free Will’ and ‘Free Won’t’

In the 1980s a neurophysiologist called Benjamin Libet[1], working in The University of California in San Francisco, set out to determine how and when conscious choice was manifest electrically in a neurological pathway. So paraphrasing the research question: “When deciding to carry out any activity, when does ‘will’ show up?” He began by asking a…

H4H If you want to change a habit-Then learn the 4 step If-Then process.

  Has persistence or lack of motivation ever been a problem for you? When you set yourself a task, for example a New Year’s resolution, particularly if it involves learning a new habit such as regular exercise or eating more healthy food, giving up smoking or cutting down on alcohol, which of the following tends…