Turning Your Lifestyle into Therapy

A therapeutic lifestyle means only doing things that improve well-being. Along with healthy eating habits in our later years, embracing the deeper patience that settles in as we age.

—a patience and present-mindset that softens the emotional impact of any decline we might see in ourselves and a patience with the world around us.

Having seen so much of life at that point, our youthful idealism might wear differently these days, but it doesn’t necessarily change our enthusiasm or drive. Studies suggest that people in their later decades have an easier time regulating their emotions, particularly anger. We also develop our emotional awareness. In research scenarios, older adults reported better capacity for resisting impulsive responses and for maintaining goal-directed behavior. Likewise, older study participants showed heightened “clarity of emotions” and better regulation strategies than their younger counterparts.