Anne: (laughs)

Bryan: Anne Mitchell!

Anne: Ok, Bryan, we’re going to have to fix that. Hi, Bryan, how are you?

Bryan: I’m good. How are you, Anne?

Anne: I’m doing very well. Although, I’m a bit sad cause our listeners didn’t know this yet, but we’re going to be saying at least temporarily goodbye to you for a while. That makes me pretty sad. That explains the lack of “and Bryan McCullough.” I’ll work on you. I promise, guys, I’ll work on him to get him back at least occasionally.

Bryan: Well it was…Let it be known it was not personal. I just don’t like you very much.

Anne: (laughs)

Bryan: That’s the reason. No, honest to goodness it’s just a time constraint issue. I’m swamped and as much as I love Anne and love doing this, it’s just difficult right now. It’s been your show. You’ve been doing the whole thing anyway. I’m just a monkey pushing buttons. You’ll be fine.

Anne: Yes, but you’re my monkey, pushing my buttons.

Bryan: Well that’s true. I do push your buttons very well.

Anne: Yes you do. You know what, Bryan, I’m injured. Beyond the mortal wound to my heart of your living, I’m physically injured. I broke my toe.

Bryan: You broke your toe?

Anne: I think so.

Bryan: Which one?

Anne: The one on my foot.

Bryan: That’s the worst kind.

Anne: One of my little toes, it’s either broken or very badly sprained. It’s bruised. It hurts when I walk on it. It hurts when I don’t work on it. Wah, wah, wah.

Bryan: Is it the little piggy that went to the market or that ran all the way home?

Anne: It’s the little piggy that got bent out to the left of my foot.

Bryan: How did that happen?

Anne: I’m a klutz.

Bryan: Ok. Good. You might wear shoes then.

Anne: Yeah. That might be a good idea. Yeah, no more motorcycling bare foot.

Bryan: You know I’ve never broken a bone of any kind?

Anne: Really? You mean on your body?

Bryan: Well and I don’t believe I’ve inflicted broken bones to anybody else. I’m either incredibly lucky or I’ve just wussed out in every situation in my life that would have led to a broken bone.

Anne: Maybe. Anyway, speaking of the body and of course as you get older it is easier to break bones. In fact some of you out there know that I am myself dealing with right now degenerative hip and a little bit in my spine. That has to do somewhat with aging. It has to do somewhat with genetics. As you get older the body has different needs and can play tricks on you as we are learning.

Bryan: Yes.

Anne: So I am so excited about tonight’s guest. She is an expert on anti-aging. What makes our guest Ellen Wood neat and Ellen I should say is the author of a book called The Secret Method for Growing Younger, a step by step anti-aging process using the law of attraction to help you stop aging, grow younger, and enjoy life. Before some of you out there say, “Oh, it’s that law of attraction thing again. We know all about that.” Well, I’m sure you don’t know all about that, but also it really is something that allows you to take control of the rest of your life. Ellen is just an amazing woman. I’m going to tell you a little about what some people are saying about her. But, I have to also tell you if you haven’t already gone to her website which is linked from our website, her website is howtogrowyounger.com. She has three free gifts for anyone that wants to sign up for her e-mail notifications. They include a set of affirmations to grow younger that you can read daily, introductory chapters from her book, and occasionally she will send you tips from time to time to help inspire you. She is just very well versed and beyond that she has developed her own program. I invited our listeners to take a look at a picture of her to see if they could guess how old she is. If we are really nice to her she might tell us the answer to that.

Bryan: That’s a risk right there. That’s a brave woman that’s going to let you do that.

Anne: I’ve got to tell you I know how old she is and I still don’t believe it. So, without further ado, Ellen Wood please join us.

Ellen: Thank you. It’s a pleasure. I’m sitting here laughing to myself because you and Bryan are so witty.

Anne: Oh well thank you.

Ellen: And tell me about your motorcycles. Do you both have motorcycles?

Anne: I don’t actually have one.

Ellen: I used to have one.

Anne: Did you really? It made me giggle to think that I could have broken my toe at something as exotic as riding a motorcycle bare foot. Not only exotic but not very smart instead of something as pedestrian, no pun intended, as having walked into a suitcase that I had on the floor. I’ve got to tell you, Ellen, first of all you have got some really knowledgeable people who are testifying to the effectiveness of the program you have developed. We’ve got David Simon who’s a doctor, an MD, with the Chopra Center for Wellbeing and he says that following your simple method will help you to feel young and vital again. No less a person than Barbara De Angelis has said that what you have developed can promise someone an exciting and fulfilling personal journey to youthfulness. I’ve got to say that I’m excited just hearing that. So, tell us about your system.

Ellen: Oh, thanks. I’m pleased that they said those things, but people have to try it for themselves and see how it works for them. It’s really a program that works if you can conceive of it first of all. That’s what you have to do to grow younger. I don’t call it anti-aging, I call it growing younger.

Anne: There you go.

Ellen: It’s about when you can really conceive of growing younger, that’s the first step towards making it happen. Have you heard of Dr. Bruce Lipton?

Anne: I can’t say that I have.

Ellen: He’s a world renowned cell biologist. He says that the mind can turn our genes on and off. Our genes are merely blue prints. It’s the environment outside the cell that determines what’s going to happen inside our cells. The scientists and physicians used to believe that our genes determined what takes place in the cells of our bodies and our DNA is preprogrammed to cause all those changes that make us grow old. Today these cell biologists are finding that human consciousness plays a very important role in what happens to our cells and that each new experience we have triggers genetic changes in our cells.

(Anne and Ellen talking simultaneously)

Anne: I was actually going to say that I absolutely believe that because I know that my own state of mind and mental state, I can wake up in the morning and think I’m going to make it a great day and then I feel great. But if I wake up thinking I feel so old and it’s icky out, my mental state absolutely affects how much energy I have physically and how I approach the day physically. So, I completely believe that.

Ellen: Absolutely. Some of the things that we say to ourselves are actually affecting our cells. I’m sure you’ve heard people say, “Oh dear, I’m having a senior moment.”

Anne: Mm-hm.

Ellen: Well what they are actually saying is, “Seniors are old people. Old people lose their memory. I’m an old person, and I’m losing my memory.” We need to realize that having your mind go momentarily blank happens to everybody. It doesn’t mean you are in the early stages of senility. Often it’s just because our brain is so full and all these various things are vying for our brain’s attention. So we need to look at what we say to ourselves. You hit the nail on the head, Anne, by saying that what you say to yourself when you get out of bed in the morning is so vitally important. I was at a talk, it’s been almost a year now, and it was in a hotel ladies room. It was right before I went on stage to give a keynote address for the New Mexico Department of Aging. This woman was standing at the mirror next to me. She didn’t really talk to me, but she was fixing her hair and touching up her makeup. As she was leaving she tossed over her shoulder, “I don’t know why I am fussing. No man is going to look at me at my age.”

Anne: Well of course not with that attitude!

Ellen: I know. She was wrong. She was a beautiful woman. Even if she was only joking, often saying is believing. What we tell cells is what is making them turn our genes on and off.

Anne: I wonder if that is responsible also for why people end up looking like their pets. If they tell their cells to start looking more dog or cat like. Let me say for our listeners, don’t forget that you can call in to ask our guest any question you want about anti-aging or growing younger. The number is 877-NYKRADIO. That’s 8776957234. You can also send us a question via Twitter to @nowyouknowradio, or you can e-mail a question to info@nowyouknowradio.com. Ellen, I was particularly interested to read about the Tibetan rejuvenation rites. It was something that I had not originally been that familiar with until reading some of your information. Afterwards I researched it a little bit and I went to that ever authoritative font of information Wikipedia, which of course we all know isn’t necessarily that authoritative. But, because of that I was interested to not that even Wikipedia gives it some credibility. So, I figure that is certainly something. Can you tell us what that is?

Ellen: Well, first of all if they want to see a demonstration of it they can go to my website howtogrowyounger.com and on the links on the left, the next to the bottom one is Tibetan rites of rejuvenation. There is a video that they can watch. It’s physical movements. They’re ancient. They’re over 2500 years old. They are sort of like Tai Chi, sort of like yoga but they are different. They are supposed to make you feel younger and they really, really work. I have been having people tell me that they’ve been doing these rites of rejuvenation for several years and their hair, which was gray is starting to go back to the normal color. It’s amazing.

Anne: Wow.

Ellen: They do more than just limber you up, but any kind of physical exercise also affects the brain. That’s one of the things that we want to really take care of is the brain. But these Tibetan rites of rejuvenation, I had read about them six years ago when I began my program. They came to my attention. I read a book called The Ancient Secret of the Fountain of Youth. I started practicing those every day. I do 21 of each every day. Then, I came across another book that was recently released that was based on a manuscript that they found by the same author, Peter Kelder, but it gave more details. So, I put a video on YouTube showing how to do those Tibetan rites of rejuvenation the right way which is much more slowly. I had to do fewer of each when I started doing them the right way. They can see them by going online. It’s sort of like yoga if they are familiar with yoga, but they are different.

Anne: That brings up a question, and then I’d like to go to a caller. How much time per day do you spend working on these things that you do to help you reverse aging?

Ellen: I spend a lot more time than other people have to, because one of the things that I do is I meditate twice a day, a half hour in the morning and a half hour in the evening. I always include all of my subscribers and everybody that writes to me. I include them as well. The most important thing is watching your thoughts. That doesn’t take any time at all. The best time is actually when you are doing something mindlessly, where you don’t need your conscious mind. The best time is actually in the morning when you get up and you go into the bathroom and you are brushing your teeth, because you don’t need your conscious mind to brush your teeth. Once you have done something, you’ve made a habit of it; you’ve created neuropathways in your brain. The muscle takes over. What happens is your mind is going lickety split thinking about all kinds of other things. Usually when we are looking in the mirror we are thinking of things that we don’t like about ourselves or that we are afraid might happen as we get older. I ask people to practice mindfulness and watching your thoughts. Do that for 21 days in a row, because behavioral studies show that it takes 21 consecutive days to form a new habit. Watch without judgment. Just become aware of what is going on in your mind. That doesn’t take any time at all. Making juice takes some time. It takes some time to do my Tibetan rites rejuvenation, about a half hour. Then, I take my dog for a two mile hike. I do a lot of different practices. I dry brush my skin which doesn’t take much time at all, about two or three minutes. Drinking a lot of pure water, we do anyway. Brain exercises, sleep on my back, you’re going to sleep anyway. Those are just some of the things that I do. Some take quite a bit of time and some take less time. Meditation probably takes the most time. However, if people just watch their thoughts while they are doing something else that’s a good way to start becoming mindful of what they are telling themselves.

Anne: That makes sense. Take that time when you can. I actually do want to talk to you about dry brushing and sleeping on your back, but first let’s go to a caller. We have Rob on the line, calling from the San Jose area. Hi, Rob.

Caller #1: Hi, Anne, how are you?

Anne: I’m well thank you. How are you tonight?

Caller #1: I’m pretty good. I just want to say as far as I can tell; you are not older than 21 years old.

Anne: Are you talking to me now, or our guest?

Caller #1: Well, I’m talking to you, because I actually know you in person

Anne: Mm-hm.

Caller #1: But as for your guest, she certainly has a very youthful picture.

Anne: She does.

Ellen: That was taken in February. Those photos were taken this past February so they are pretty new photos. I’m not showing my body without clothes on though.

Caller #1: But that’s not my question. My question is, when people perceive age what is the most important factor? I kind of broke it down into three categories. One is the physical signs of age. Second category is body language. The third category is attitude. What is the most important thing that people grab onto when they are assessing someone else’s age?

Ellen: Oh, God. I think frankly it is attitude, because if you are smiling and you are happy and you feel joyful and you love yourself (that’s one of the most important things), then it is going to show in your body language. It’s going to show in your face. It’s going to show in all of your physical signs. So, I would say that attitude and how you feel about yourself and how you feel about the world at large and how you feel about other people is going to come across. I say that attitude is the most important thing of all of those.

Anne: That is a great question.

Ellen: Did that answer your question?

Anne: He’s there, but I’m not sure that he can answer you right now. Are you there, Rob?

Caller #1: Yes, I’m here.

Anne: Did that answer your question?

Caller #1: Yes. Affirmative.

Anne: Excellent.

Ellen: Ok, great.

Anne: That’s a really interesting question, because I actually ask myself that about others when I am looking at people. When I try to figure out how (not that I always worry about how old people are)…It is absolutely true that if you have a youthful attitude then I think that really goes pretty far. Frankly, even if it doesn’t it is much more important than youthful looks. I’d much rather have youthful health and youthful attitude than youthful looks but the other way around. I think we see this actually in situations where, and I think Hollywood is the iconical example, perhaps unfairly so, but perhaps deservedly so, where it seems people will try to retain their youthful looks at pretty much any price. And a lot of them don’t seem terribly happy, although they are pretty to look at. Let’s talk about dry brushing a little bit, because I actually have done that, and it feels great. That’s one of those things that in a hectic overly busy life, it’s one of the things that it is very easy to stop doing. I confess that I stopped doing it just because I didn’t feel like I even had those five spare minutes. I know that a lot of people recommend it. It feels great. For the people out there that are listening who wouldn’t know what that is, can you talk a little bit and describe what dry brushing is and what its benefits are?

Ellen: Sure. When you dry brush your skin, it is an easy and effective way to help your body grow younger, because it is to detoxify your body. One way to detox your body is by dry brushing your skin. It not only removes old dead skin cells, but it also helps your lymphatic filtration system do its job of releasing toxins in your body. You want to get yourself a good body brush, one with natural bristles. Get a long handle, because you will probably be doing it yourself. A lover might get distracted. Always brush towards your heart. You start at the bottom of your feet and brush towards your heart. It doesn’t take long to just brush up towards your heart, but don’t skip behind your knees or under your arms because there are lymph nodes there and you want to get them too. So, you are going to brush up towards your heart and down towards your heart, but never brush your face or your nipples. Ouch.

Anne: Ok. For men as well?

Ellen: It’s true for men as well, just not your nipples and not your face. But, you want to start from your feet up and then from your neck and go down. When you are brushing if you can remember to do this, thank each part of your body, because your cells have consciousness and so you want to be able to say, “Thank you, legs, for carrying me around. Thank you, hands, for helping me to carry things and to talk.” That’s pretty important, and while you are doing that instead of just having your mind go lickety split about other things, thank the parts of your body and they will respond.

Anne: You know for listeners that may be thinking, “That’s a bit new age-y for me.” Because, this isn’t something that comes naturally for some people, I think really underlying what you are saying, it is another way of saying be mindful and aware of the fact that you have a body that…the human body is an absolutely phenomenal work of be it nature or God or whatever you believe. There is no denying that it is an amazing machine. So I think if you don’t mind my paraphrasing, I think what you are saying is be aware of it, think about it, and really appreciate it and take care of it.

Ellen: Right, and nowadays it’s not just new age-y, there are scientists in the new field of epigenetics. It’s beyond genetics. It’s saying that human consciousness plays an important roll in what happens to your cells. If you tell your hip, I hate this hip. It hurts me so much. They are finding the scientists are finding that that can actually have an effect on your hip.

Anne: Well that makes sense, because negative thoughts, if you let negative thoughts predominate you that really can just poison your entire system.

Ellen: Exactly, exactly. Negative thoughts can be very toxic to your body. That’s why I am suggesting positive, loving thoughts to your body to make your body function better.

Anne: Again, we are speaking with reverse aging expert, Ellen Wood. She is the author of The Secret Method for Growing Younger which is available through Amazon.com. Her website is howtogrowyounger.com and if you have a question you can give us a call at 877-NYKRADIO. That’s 8776957234. Just call through to that number and hit one to be connected to us. You can send us a message via Twitter @nowyouknowradio, or drop us an e-mail at info@nowyouknowradio.com. Ellen, I actually have a question that came here through e-mail it happens to be related to something that you yourself said is something that you like to talk about. That question is what would you say is the one most important thing to really get started? If you could only do one thing to really get some results and get on the way, what would you recommend?

Ellen: Well, it’s to catch yourself. It’s step one of the 30 second grow younger method that I have which is to catch yourself saying, thinking, feeling, doing anything that reinforces a negative mindset about aging. Catching yourself means noticing. You need to notice your thoughts, notice your words, notice your emotions, notice your actions and your reactions. Catch yourself when you are saying things like, “Oh I keep forgetting where I put my glasses.” Or, “I keep forgetting things. My memory isn’t what it used to be.” Catch yourself, that’s probably the most important thing and the first place that you should start, is to catch yourself and watch your thoughts.

Anne: Well now, you’ve been doing this program that you developed for how long now?

Ellen: Six years.

Anne: How did you get started? Was this something that you were always interested in and you were doing some things to reverse the aging process before you developed your program? Or did you just suddenly kind of one day wake up and say, “I think I’d like to reverse my aging process.”? How did you come into this?

Ellen: Actually, I had studied mind-spirit practices and teachings for decades. I applied those dynamics to many aspects of my life. I had a terrible, horribly poverty mentality. I was able to reverse that and bring about abundance through using those mind-spirit practices and teachings. It never occurred to me to use those teachings to grow younger. It was after my mother wasted away with Alzheimer’s. I began to worry that the same things was going to happen to me. She spent over three years in a nursing home. Every time I visited her I kept focusing on her mind going and then her body going. Of course because I kept focusing on it, soon I found my mind slipping. It got so bad that my kids insisted that I go to the doctor for testing. Of course, some tests, he asked me some questions and I aced them all. I knew who was president of the United States. I knew what year it was and I knew the answers to the other questions like those. This might be important for your listeners, because I had asked for that test it went into my medical records. When I applied for long term care insurance they turned me down and they said it was because they found that Alzheimer’s test in my medical records. It wasn’t until six years ago that I began to wake up to what I was doing to myself. I became aware that my thoughts and beliefs about aging were creating a life for me that I did not want. It was that realization that led me to growing younger. What happened was I was in the garage and I was cleaning out the garage. I had no energy. I was just sitting down every few steps practically. Then I came across some old photos of me from long ago. I was looking at those photos and I realized I looked pretty darn good back then. I had so much more energy than now. It hit me. That part of my life is gone, and here I was in the downhill slide. I had watched my mother, so I was all too familiar with that path. I didn’t want my mind and body to fall apart. I wanted to be fresh and alive. So, that day I decided that I would be fresh and alive and I would grow younger. I would not just slow the aging process, but I would actually grow younger. So, I took those mind-spirit teachings and converted them, used them, and I also did a lot of research. I found that body and brain exercises and action steps that I put together in the program. I developed a whole program. I started using it, and it worked so great for me that I just had to share it and that is how I came to writing my book.

Anne: That’s really an awesome story. Again, you are listening to Now You Know Radio with our guest, reverse aging expert Ellen Wood. If you have a question for Ellen, give us a call at 877-NYKRADIO. That’s 8776957234. Press one to be put right through to Ellen. Ellen, as I am talking, even though I feel at times that I look my age, people are often very surprised at my age. They often think I am younger than I am. I absolutely attribute that to my own attitude and the fact that I kind of refuse to feel like I am getting old. Usually, some days I am not as good at that. I used to say that I refuse to grow old gracefully. I am going to grow old disgracefully. But, the other thing that I attribute to my own feeling of “I can’t really be as old the number is” is that there is a saying (I don’t know if you’ve run into this saying, and I don’t know if you have children) that if you have children when you are young it makes you older and if you have children when you are old it makes you younger. In both cases it is a positive. It’s saying that if you are very young when you have a child then you are going to grow up quickly and become more mature and thoughtful in what you do. If you have them when you are older and more advanced in life then they will sort of keep you young. I’ve done both. I have to say that the saying is true. So, I can hardly advocate if you are feeling a little old, have a baby. I’m being a little bit flip.

Ellen: Yeah, you can’t do anything about having grandbabies, you can’t make it happen, but I’ll tell you it is incredible. I have four biological children and two step children and two foster daughters. I am so incredibly grateful. I have 13 grandchildren. The two youngest ones are three and four years old, and they live near me. I am so grateful for that. I get down on the floor and play with them and have such a good time. They are just incredible. They really make you young. They are absolutely fantastic. Actually what growing younger means is, it’s living a long, long time and having a clear, sharp mind and a strong, healthy body right up to the day you leave the planet. It’s about having more joy in your life, every day of your life. It’s about having more fun, that’s what growing younger means.

Anne: That’s all energy. All of that is your own internal energy and how you channel it and how you let it bubble up. I know that we have another caller, but first I want to say I think some people that might be listening might have been thinking, “Oh, anti-aging, reverse aging, that’s about polypeptides and alphahydroxy acids and all of those things.”

Ellen: Human growth hormone.

Anne: Right, but you know the cosmetics, or the term now cosme-ceutical. So I wanted to ask you and bring that up. Where do you place those in the realm of things that can help? Obviously for some at least to some extent those are things that make you feel like you look younger. Do you have any suggestions about that? Do you think that they are completely unnecessary?

Ellen: First of all, it depends on the person, because somebody can have a facelift and if they don’t love themselves, it would be like an anorexic that looks in the mirror and sees a fat person. It won’t do any good. Also, I’ve been giving talks with Dr. Terry Grossman. He is one of the world’s top anti-aging physicians. One of the things that he does, he doesn’t believe in the human growth hormone or some of these other things, but I’m doing his longevity program. It’s with a lot of supplements and so forth. He does every test imaginable. Also, Terry does something, I haven’t had him do it for me yet and maybe I will some day, he takes a person’s fat cells from their belly, their own stem cells.

Anne: I definitely have lots of those. I’d be a good donor there.

Ellen: He takes those and mixes them with the person own stem cells and injects it into your face. Apparently some of the doctors are putting fat cells into people’s faces, plastic surgeons and so forth, to plump up the face. But, it only lasts for six months or a year or something. But, by adding a person’s own stem cells, it lasts ten or more years.

Anne: Wow!

Ellen: Yeah. He has a website called grossmanwellness.com. It’s Terry Grossman. He is in Denver, Colorado. He has people come to him from every continent. He is really good. He is outstanding.

Anne: Wow, and local to me.

Ellen: He also knows and believes that how we think can affect our bodies. He knows that we can affect the cells and the genes in our bodies. In fact I wanted to know if I have the Alzheimer’s gene. I told him that it wasn’t part of the program but I said I’d like to have that test done anyway. That genetics test done, because there are so many baby boomers that are taking care of parents with dementia. I wanted to be able to show them that they don’t have to worry about getting it. A lot of them are concerned. My mother or my father has it, am I going to get it too? It preys on their mind. I wanted to be able to show them that they can create new neuropathways in their brain. They can do other things; do brain exercises and physical exercises so that gene does not have to get expressed.

Anne: Well, you are a living testament to that. Of course no one will believe it until they know how old you are. Even then, I’m not sure you have the credibility to say look at me, it doesn’t have to happen, because you are just so incredibly young.

Ellen: Oh, well thank you, but I did have the symptoms of it.

Anne: Right, but you don’t now.

Ellen: Right, I don’t now. I was able to overcome that. I don’t expect…I have the gene that shows that I am most likely to get it. So that by the time I am 80, I would most likely have it. But, I am going to prove that I am not going to get it. You know how old I am, right?

Anne: I do. I do know how old you are, but I don’t believe it. Let’s go to Jessica. She is calling from the Sacramento area I think, or maybe not. Anyway, I think Jessica has a question for you.

Caller #2: Hi. This is Jessica. First, I wanted to say that I am 32 and my fiancé is 25 so to me that has been the best way to stay young is to nab them young.

Ellen: Good for you.

Caller #2: Thank you. The overwhelming message that I am getting from tonight is obviously to think positively and stay positive and it’s in the mind, which I agree is really important. I am just wondering I know that there must be more to the program than that unless you wrote your book in incredibly large font. There’s got to be more than that. I’m just curious, if I were to go pick up a copy of your book, in addition to just thinking positively, what could I expect to get out of the program? When would I typically start feeling a difference inside once I start doing the program? I was just wondering if I could have a little more information on the program itself.

Ellen: Ok, to tell you the truth, the book that I wrote, the one that is already published, doesn’t have all of the body techniques and the relationship techniques that are in the program that I am using. That is a book that I am still writing. But, if you go to my blog, I give a lot of the tips there. You’ll find dry brushing your skin, making fresh juice, eating a handful of almonds, and what kind of diet you have, getting sensible sun, drinking pure water, doing brain exercises, and observing your thoughts, choosing how to react, and so forth. It really does start, Jessica, with your mind. In this new field of epigenetics they are showing how your environment and any choices that you make…They did a cover story in Time Magazine in January that showed that you can influence your genetic code, but not only your own genetic code but actually that of your kids. The lifestyle choices that you make now can actually affect your children. This sounds pretty far out I know, but the mind is so powerful. That’s really where you have to start is with the mind and with thinking positively. But, it’s more than just thinking positively. You have to become aware of what you are saying to yourself and what you are saying out loud. These are some of the things that you have to become aware of. How your words, your thoughts and your experiences are actually changing the cells in your body.

Caller #2: Wow. That’s really interesting. Thank you.

Ellen: Yeah. I will have to get this; it’s called Why Genes Aren’t Destiny. I’ll have to get that on my blog, because it was a really important cover story that was in Time Magazine about the new field of epigenetics.

Anne: What was that called? Why Genes are what?

Ellen: Why Genes Are Not Destiny. It was January 18, 2010, a cover story.

Anne: Thank you for the call, Jessica. That really sounds like we can truly influence our health, our youthfulness by influencing our cells at the cellular level with our mindfulness and our attention and basically our attitude.

Ellen: Yes and there was a study done by the Yale School of Public Health. The results were just released not too long ago. It’s a 40 year study. 40 years ago they interviewed young people, teenagers and people in their early 20s, and got their attitudes about elders. They found 40 years later they interviewed the same people and found that those that had had a negative view of elders and of aging had a much higher percentage of heart attacks and strokes than those that had a positive view of aging. So, it’s not just for people in their 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s, 80, and 90s. It’s also for young people, for people that have young children. How they view their grandparents who come to visit on holidays and what they think about people who are getting older, all of that is very much involved. The other thing also is it is not just what you are thinking now. It’s what is in your head. In my book I do give an exercise for examining what your beliefs are about aging. We have these beliefs. We’ve got programming and conditioning that have been going on for years and years and generation and generation of what it looks and feels like to add a lot of years. So, all of that programming and conditioning has become a belief system. So, we believe we are going to get old. When we get older and as we add years we are going to progressively deteriorate and it’s going to be very painful and we can’t avoid it. All those things are inside our minds. They are in our belief system. They operate within us. So, we have to take a look at that too and see what’s happening in us and what do we believe about aging. Some of us have role models that we can look to who are great. Somebody was just telling me about somebody who is 98 and goes to yoga class everyday, drives herself to yoga class everyday. She was just telling me this the other day. There are other people that are doing things like that who are up in years. If we have role models like that, that can affect us. If we have role models of people who are grouchy and lonely and hate that they are getting old and just have a terrible attitude towards it and fight getting old, then that is going to affect them.

Anne: That really goes to me. Ever since I was a little girl, I heard the saying, and I’m sure it has been around for much longer, you are as old as you feel or as young as you feel. That saying has been around for so long. It is so cliché and so trite, and yet really fundamentally, that is really kind of what you are saying. So, it seems like our grandparents were onto this ever so long ago, but now the science is really kind of evolving to support it.

Ellen: Not only that, there is a wonderful website to go to. It’s maxlife.org. It is the Maximum Life Foundation. He sends out a newsletter. I don’t know if it is once a week or from time to time, but he talks about all the things that are happening, the life extension science, and these scientific breakthroughs that are happening now, so we have to start changing our ways of thinking so that we can welcome these life extension scientific breakthroughs and be ready for them. In 30 years they expect that we can have fresh new skin grown from your own stem cells and new organs grown from scratch in test tubes. There are all kinds of things that they are working on right now that we will be able to use to live a long, long time. What we really want, as Terry describes it, is squaring the curve. When we start hitting our 30s, our mid 30s we have good health until then, and then it starts going down hill. You are drawing a line across the top of the page and it starts to curve down. What he talks about is squaring that curve so that you stay healthy until the day you leave the planet. Stay healthy and strong, and that will help cut Medicare costs and help us all.

Anne: Yeah. Well now we’ve been talking a lot about the body and about attitude, but you’ve mentioned a couple of times that you do some brain training. I see that you also recommend that on your site. Can you talk a little bit about that? We don’t have a lot of time left, but I’d really love to hear a bit more about that, because I am sure that is a very critical, fundamental part of this.

Ellen: It really is. One of the things is doing crossword puzzles is good. Sudoku is even better, but better than that is to learn something new like a musical instrument or a new language or how to crochet. When you learn something new like that, what you do is you create new neuropathways in your brain.

(Recorded message interrupts)

Bryan: Well it appears that technical issues have decided that Ellen needed to go away. Could you hear that?

Anne: I heard that. I just actually thought it was me running out of calling credits.

Bryan: I thought it was me too! I was checking real quickly. I was freaking out. I guess Ellen needs to up her Skype account then.

Anne: I guess she did come in on Skype. I didn’t know that. Well, maybe she will come back.

Bryan: I hope.

Anne: I hope she comes back. Ellen, give us a call. Actually, Bryan, do you know how to call her?

Bryan: No, I don’t know that I can call her from this system. She has to call in.

Anne: I know there is a way to do it. Why don’t you be really entertaining for our listeners while I figure it out? I just put you on the spot.

Bryan: That’s fine. I can definitely break out some HMS Pinafore if we need to. I am the very model of a modern major general. No, really I’ve been listening in of course, back here listening to the anti-aging talk.

Anne: Reverse aging, growing younger.

Bryan: Reverse aging, growing younger, all that kind of stuff and I get skeptical when I hear about all this think your way to health, wealth and long life kind of stuff. So, I guess it’s worked. I’m anxious to find out what her age is so that I can be surprised with everybody else. I guess I’d have to research it to see how well that kind of stuff works. That’s just me I guess. I might not be a believer just yet.

Anne: I am actually a believer, because I feel quite a bit younger than I think I am usually. I do now know that it was our fault. We owe Ellen a very big apology because what happened was it was our system that ran out of credits. So, bad hosts, our fault, and I’m going to get her back on the line and then I am going to get more credit.

Bryan: Ah, the joys of technical Internet fun.

Anne: Yes, yes, so again please just bare with us. I am very, very sorry about this, listeners. You can just know that we are not perfect. We never claimed to be perfect. So, just bear with us one minute. Bryan, you can do your HMS Pinafore now if you would while I desperately try to dial and do all this.

Bryan: Well I think I’ll not inflict that upon the listeners. But, I did like what you said, Anne, about the have kids young and you’ll grow older and have kids when you’re old and you’ll grow younger. I don’t necessarily have a big gap but I had…

Anne: Ellen?

Ellen: I don’t know what happened. I got cut off. I tried calling back but it kept saying the mailbox was full.

Anne: We are very sorry. It was a technical glitch on our end that we didn’t know could happen. Now we know. So, again I am very, very sorry. It was all Bryan’s fault

Bryan: I’m sorry. You can fire me.

Ellen: Let’s blame it on him, especially since he’s leaving. So, he did that deliberately just to get back at you.

Anne: That’s right.

Bryan: I was trying to ease the pain of me leaving. It’s actually a nice thing, because now things won’t screw up. Right?

Anne: (laughs) Anyway, on that note, we were talking about brain training.

Ellen: Well, I don’t know how much you heard, but I think I was telling you that I have been told even if I am able to create new neuropathways in my brain I don’t have to experience the symptoms of Alzheimer’s. There is a convent of nuns that donated their bodies as each one dies. They donated to science. They’ve found…I don’t know how many nuns, if it was one or more than one, but she had not symptoms of Alzheimer’s whatsoever, but when they did the autopsy they found her brain was full of the Alzheimer’s plaque and entanglements that show Alzheimer’s but she had no symptoms. She had continued to learn new things and to study. Just reading alone won’t do it. That is not going to create new neuropathways. One of the things you can do is use your non-dominant hand.

Anne: So if you are right-handed, use your left?

Ellen: Exactly. Brush your teeth with your left hand if you are right-handed and so forth. Try eating with your non-dominant hand. That’s a good way to do it. Memorize a long poem. That’s excellent for your brain. Go dance. I can’t wait for my two grandchildren, the youngest ones, to get old enough because we are going to take tap dancing lessons. It’s really good for your brain. Well, the four year old, the three year old is probably ready, but the four year old has Down Syndrome, but she is doing incredibly well. She’s really smart, and as soon as she is ready, the three of us are going to take tap dancing lessons. Any kind of dance steps, learning dance steps, because it is your brain learning movements and your body that is so good for your brain. Physical exercise is also good for your brain.

Anne: So it really is a reciprocal relationship. Physical exercise is good for keeping your brain young, but also mental exercise is good for helping keep your body and your cells young.

Ellen: Right. By the way, did you say that you have pain in your hips?

Anne: Actually I have to tell you, this isn’t something that I usually talk about, but because you asked, I have degenerative bone disease in my hips. One of my hips is just about bone on bone. But I am extraordinarily grateful that I have very little pain. I have some mechanical limitations but I am just very, very grateful to not be in a lot of pain at this point.

Ellen: Great, great, great, because if you ever do, or for people that have arthritis, Glucosamine, 1500 milligrams and 1200 milligrams of Chondroitin really will just take the pain away. It’s best if you can take it in a liquid. There’s something called elations that really, really works. I’ve been hearing this from a lot of people, and I just wanted to pass it along.

Anne: Well I appreciate that. I will pass something onto you then. Also, we only have a couple of minute. Bryan, are you trying to interrupt? Bryan, were you trying to say something?

Bryan: I was not, no.

Anne: I was hearing something, and it was a sort of a base tone voice.

Bryan: Well then you know it wasn’t me.

Anne: First of all, I am a pretty strident vegetarian and Glucosamine often comes from shellfish so I have to find always there are a couple of vegetarian formulas. I actually found out that there are some pharmacies that do what is called compounding, that make their own things that do a nasal spray of Glucosamine. That’s supposed to be even better than liquid for delivering it to where it needs to be. Anyway that is quite a tangent. We have just a couple of minutes and I really wanted to get to sleeping on our backs. Which is not an invitation, I just mean talking about that, because you mentioned that quite a bit, so what is the deal about sleeping on your back as opposed to someone else’s back?

Ellen: Yeah. Might be more fun sleeping on someone else’s back. Good restful sleep is so important for your body and for your wellbeing and for your health. By sleeping on your back it allows all of those amazing organs and systems in your body to relax. I used to prefer sleeping on my tummy. I would sleep on one side and then the other, but I would always end up sleeping on my tummy. I would wake up looking like my face had been camping out in the waffle iron. All day long, gravity is pulling our face to our belly button. By sleeping on your back it gives our face a reprieve from gravity. That’s one of the things about that. Every day do something silly or fun or spontaneous. I just wanted to get that one thing in, because I think that so important. To laugh every day is very important. Do something silly, something fun.

Anne: I absolutely agree with that. Monday is my day to do something silly. I hang out with Bryan. I don’t know how I am going to replace that. Bryan is definitely one of the sillier people I know. So, I think I’m going to have to audition for silly people to come and hang out with me on Monday evenings now.

Ellen: I have a friend, whose mother was visiting her last winter. Her mother coaxed her to come out and lie in the snow and make snow angels with her. Her mother was 92.

Anne: That’s nice. That’s not silly, that’s just fun.

Ellen: That’s fun. Yeah. Well do something silly, fun or spontaneous because you know people who think of themselves as old become inflexible and rigid. It’s staying flexible and being able to do something spontaneously. Call somebody up, “Come over. Let’s lie naked in front of the fire place.” Do something that’s silly and fun.

Anne: Absolutely. Well, our guest is Ellen Wood and we are just about out of time. Her book is The Secret Method for Growing Younger. She is Ellen Wood and it is available on Amazon.com. Her website is howtogrowyounger.com. In the last couple of seconds we have, Ellen, would you tell us how old you are?

Ellen: Sure. I am ageless and timeless, but I’ve celebrated 73 birthdays. In a couple of months I will be 74. I’ll be celebrating my 74th.
Bryan: That is unbelievable.

Ellen: Thank you. Come on over here, Bryan.

Bryan: I’m looking at the picture that was taken in February. There’s no way! I’m a believer now. When you were off the air, I was questioning how well this stuff really works, but if that is the truth and you are 74 I think I am sold. That is pretty amazing.

Ellen: Thank you.

Anne: Well, Ellen, thank you so much for joining us. Again, I am really, really sorry about the glitch with the phone. I look forward to speaking with you again.

Ellen: Great. Thanks again, Anne. I had a lot of fun talking with you.

Anne: Thank you so much. Wow, if you can make a believer out of Bryan, then you can make a believer out of anybody. You certainly deserve that. Be sure to join us next week when our guest is the star of Who Killed the Electric Car, Chelsea Sexton. See you next week!

Ellen Wood’s Website

Ellen Wood’s book, “The Secrete Method for Growing Younger”

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