Table Of ContentSecrets of Longevity
DR. Mao’s
8-Week Program
SIMPLE STEPS THAT ADD YEARS TO YOUR LIFE
DR. MAO SHING NI
This book is dedicated to those who seek to live
healthy and long productive lives in order to
build and leave a meaningful legacy.
Contents
HOW TO USE THIS 8-WEEK PROGRAM
INTRODUCTION
Where You Are Now: Health Assessment
WEEK 1 DETOXIFY YOUR BODY
Toxicity Health Assessment
WEEK 2 SLEEP FOR RESTORATION
Restorative Health Assessment
WEEK 3 CREATE ENERGY AND STAMINA
Energy-Level Health Assessment
WEEK 4 REDUCE STRESS AND LIFT YOUR MOOD
Stress-Level Health Assessment
WEEK 5 BUILD IMMUNITY
Immunity Health Assessment
WEEK 6 EAT LIKE A CENTENARIAN
Nutrition Health Assessment
WEEK 7 GET A HEALTHY HEART
Heart Health Assessment
WEEK 8 BOOST BRAINPOWER
Brainpower Health Assessment 174 Final Health Assessment
EPILOGUE: MAINTAIN THE WAY
Recommended Health Products
Resources
Index
Acknowledgments
How to Use This 8-Week Program
This book shows you how to apply the secrets of longevity to your lifestyle, one
healthful habit at a time. The material in this book comes directly from the
healthful habits of centenarians from around the world.
Set up as an 8-Week Longevity Program, this book will give you new healthful
habits to integrate into your life. Every day, try these new habits and then write
in this book, which will help you track your progress and your experience with
this life change. Each week, you will be given five new healthful habits to
practice. At the end of the week, you will select one of these habits to continue
to practice for the duration of your 8-Week Longevity Program. If you follow
our program, by the end of 8 weeks, you will have eight new lifelong healthful
habits to call your own!
To attain optimum health and longevity, you must approach wellness with a
whole-body perspective, taking into account all aspects of your life, including
what you eat, how you heal, where you are, what you do, and your connection
with spirituality. Each week, the new habits will reflect the five most significant
factors for preserving your well-being and longevity:
1. Diet and nutrition
2. Herbs and supplements
3. Environmental surroundings
4. Physical exercises
5. Spirit and connection
For example, in Week 1, for the diet and nutrition area of health, you will be
asked to drink eight glasses of water every day. Meanwhile, for the herbs and
supplements area, you will be prompted to select a detoxifying herbal tea to
drink every day. For environmental surroundings that week, you will buy a
plant. And thus, you will be satisfying all areas of health and wellness each
week.
Cultivating Healthful Habits
Cultivating Healthful Habits
While the time to create a new habit varies from person to person, generally, for
a simple activity, it takes 14 to 21 days to ingrain a new habit, provided the
activity is simple and you practice it consistently.
It is also important to be very specific about what habit you want to develop and
in what situation. For instance, if you decide you want to take a 20-minute walk
every day, you choose a time—perhaps one hour after dinner—that you do it
every day. This repetition over time creates a mental association between the
action (walking, for instance) and the situation (after dinner). When the situation
is encountered, the behavior is performed automatically—thus, a new habit!
This workbook will help you be specific and track your consistency. Over time,
creating a habit will begin to happen more easily and take less effort.
Recommended Health Products and Resources
I have included sections in the back called Recommended Health Products and
Resources that will further assist you with your health aspirations. These
sections provide you with my recommendations for products and sources that
will support you in your pursuit of health and longevity.
Introduction
In this 8-Week Longevity Program, you will find healthful, lifelong habits that
are adapted straight from the time-tested traditions practiced by centenarians all
around the world, and I can say with certainty that these habits will transform
and rejuvenate you!
Twenty-five years ago, while in a postgraduate residency in Shanghai, I took
note of the thousands of seniors—a good number of them centenarians—meeting
up in parks each morning to practice tai chi. I was truly amazed by their grace
and agility, sharp minds, and overall state of health. This discovery began my
journey into the secrets of longevity. I began studying the diets and lifestyles of
centenarians and examining literature on antiaging therapies. Combining these
discoveries with my own background as a 38th-generation practitioner of
traditional Chinese medicine, I have fused the best of East and West to develop
the activities that appear in this journal.
There is no limit to how healthy and how energized you can feel. Like the
centenarians I have come across in my longevity studies, you, too, can enjoy
vibrant health for years to come! It is my belief that our own human behavior is
our greatest obstacle to longevity. You might ask, what about genes, disease, or
natural disasters? Aren’t all of these the primary predictors of longevity? Of
course they are. But the one thing we can control is probably the single greatest
determinant of how long we live and how healthy we are, and that is our own
behavior and habits. Your body was designed to be a hundred years old—so get
out of the way and let your body do what it does best: live!
The habits and lifestyle we have today are the cumulative result of all our past
choices. The question is, are your habits preventing you from achieving health
and well-being in your life? Most of us have developed routine behaviors that
limit our true health potential. But don’t let your bad habits of the past
discourage you—it is never too late to make new choices! What you did in the
past can be changed, and your body will respond in kind. What matters is what
you do from this moment forward. You can positively affect your longevity and
create new healthful habits starting right now!
Remember, when you repeat your new behavior for 14 to 21 days, it forms a
pattern in your brain and becomes automatic. As you develop new healthful
habits, they will begin to replace the bad ones. By focusing on the positive, you
eliminate the negative.
As you are guided through this 8-Week Longevity Program, you will experience
a revitalization of your life force and learn the essential healthful habits that will
set you on the path to wellness and longevity. May you live long, live strong,
and be happy!
Where You Are Now: Health Assessment
Evaluate the relevance of the following statements to your life by circling the
appropriate score for each one:
Add up the numbers for each of your responses. If the total score is less than
30, you have a life-force deficiency. Follow the recommendations in this
30, you have a life-force deficiency. Follow the recommendations in this
journal to increase your life force and longevity.
What are your reactions to this quiz?
Are you surprised by the results?
Do you have a feeling about where you would like to make some changes in
your health plan?
This health assessment will help you focus on your personal wellness goal for
the duration of this 8-Week Program. Begin by asking yourself which
healthful habits you most wish to acquire: Higher energy? More motivation?
Better nutrition? Write down the three that are top priorities for you.
Why are these particular healthful habits important to you?
What aspects of your health do you struggle with? Setting aside time to
properly care for yourself? Having the self-discipline to follow through? Write
down possible obstacles to your health goals.
Now, write some ways in which you can become aware of and avoid these
obstacles. Write what you are willing to do in order to achieve optimum
wellness for the rest of your lifetime. For instance, you might write that you
are willing to schedule time to do this program or you might create a list of
close friends and family that will support you in being consistent on a daily
basis.
Now, based on what you have written so far, write down your specific
wellness goal, such as to increase your energy, get rid of stress, or to eat
healthily. These are some suggestions, but choose a wellness goal that is
meaningful to you.
Remember this goal (or goals) throughout the 8-Week Program. Repeat it
often to yourself. This will help motivate you and help you stay on track.
