How To Live Longer

"The power of community to create health is far greater than any physician, clinic, or hospital." - Mark Hyman

Many years ago I saw a TED talk by Susan Pinker about longevity...it blew my socks off! In it, she described her research into the Italian island of Sardinia which has more than six times as many centenarians as mainland Europe and ten times as many as North America. Why? A little hint...it isn't because of their exercise routine or drinking green juice or the latest diet trend. The reason for their long, happy, fulfilling lives is their emphasis on close personal relationships and face-to-face communal interactions. In fact, scoring well above even the most intimate relationships - the people who know you inside and out and every space in between - was social integration.

My mind was BLOWN. And yet when I really stopped to think about it...it made perfect sense.

I have been so lucky to witness and experience this within our shared yoga tribe over a great many years...and never before quite as meaningfully as within the past 18+ months. I have seen community blossom in the hardest of times - via Zoom screens and dancing under treetops. I have seen people finding true nourishment in connecting with each other through shared experience and a shared, deeply intrinsic, knowledge that community is undoubtedly the highest form of healing.

Together, we are stronger.

Together, we are kinder.

Together, we are healthier.

Together, we thrive.