Longevity and Happiness - Living in the Blue Zones

authors Radka Beach

Welcome to La Muse Blue

I explain why I care & founded this blue online project.

Lifestyle is the irreplaceable parent of satisfaction and happiness in our lives.

Globally there have been identified so called “blue zones”, places where people live in general for longer than in other areas on Earth or as my husband says “the places that have everything“.

These ‘lucky’ areas* are the proof that, however wealthy or culturally, technologically, and politically advanced a society can be, the quality of life and ultimately good health depend also on another facets of day-to-day activities and an overall lifestyle. Our disharmony is like a crescendo that accumulates and sounds particularly loud with our advancing age. Scientists flip and scan all the possible variables, trying to puzzle out the secrets of these ‘blue’ people’s longevity, yet it is hardly possible to consider every aspect of human life, therefore their scientific hypotheses may change like a Maui wind. But one agreement prevails in the culturally, scientific as as well as by wisdom driven conclusions.

Balance

Too much of this, took little of that, as Hippocrates told in his chronicles – the only thing that makes a poison from a cure is its dose. As millennia passed this old truth is still recognized. So how does this applies to our modern lifestyles?

Now, I will also get little philosophical. No poetry, this time, but my pure reflection on our state of being.

We exist in a revolutionary age. Standing on the ravenous cliff of the new millennium in which we are radically redefining the way we relate to others and to our world. Technology is a miracle. What might had been a utopian dreaming 50 years ago, is now real. We experience more of our days in a virtual reality through our technological gadgets. This is highly evolutionary challenging. Indirect, nor tangible relationship must be in their nature emotionally confusing.

In this world of changes, we need to scale up our focus on the quality our lifestyle. If only for the sake of our sanity and wellbeing. Not just being connected to ourselves in this increasingly virtual existence, but our happiness is contagious so we infect our family, friends and colleagues with this powerful potion of greatness, that can also possibly increase our lifespan.

The amount of energy we reserve for our jobs and other productive work is a tax on our existence. We pay an irrational price for material satisfaction which in its nature vanishes, but we should focus more on our direct experience, mind, feelings and fulfilling activities. In a more liberal society taxes would be voluntary. I’m not sure if our roads, research and education systems would work smoothly, but they don’t, even when we pay into the states’ coffers. My point is that we have a choice in paying with our health for our generally unhappy lifestyle.

Although the sparkles of happiness are highly individual, plenty of research would support my call for seeking indulgent or rejuvenating experiences, the positive effect of traveling and learning in one’s satisfaction in life.

We can push our needs away from our consciousness, but like a bunch of rotting onions, not taking care of them will ultimately lead to a disturbing stink disrupting our other tasks. Hiding our needs, the screams of our minds and bodies, in our subconscious does not eliminate them. At certain moments, they will hunt you or pop out like gunmen barricading your road in life, injuring your health or blocking the journey towards a fulfilling life.

Lifestyle

We need to take the initiative in the clean up of our lives on our own. But there are tools to help us with almost anything. La Muse Blue is one of them. We are not a therapy, but a holistic inspiration for the balanced path.

By nourishing our lifestyles like a top athlete, we increase our chances to qualify for any race. With hindsight, as most of the genuinely satisfied athletes would say – it is not about the winning itself, a short moment in a tough day, it is about the training and the personal experience leading to the win. Far from being a competition, focus, motivation and dedication are the rewards in the contest, and they are also needed to achieve the sense of an individual well-being we all seek.

For a balanced life, we need to clean our heads from distractions, rush and stress. What our mind and body call for. And we can still go for a fast run and slow down our thoughts.

Do something …

INDULGENT, when we feel deprived,

REJUVENATING, when exhausted,

LEARN a new skill or socially engage in pleasant activities,

TRAVEL to open the horizons of understanding others, the world, and ultimately ourselves.

Experiencing different cultures, religions and societies can broaden our respect and capability to appreciate what we have, who and where we are in our lives.

The basics of existence are that eating and drinking, together with breathing, is all the energy we need to keep us alive.

If we want to make the experience of living more pleasurable, we should be mindful of food, liquids and the air we consume daily. Not just in the hedonist sense of an imbibing sustenance, but consciously and responsibly drawing water from the well of life. Enjoying these necessary acts of living, while respecting our environment leads to a sustainable future of ours and the generations to follow. I

n their simplicity, like meditation, they naturally lead to a comforting contentment and the real sense of balance within ourselves and with the outside world.

The readers of La Muse Blue are interested in digging deep into these daily necessities while seeking equilibrium.

Sample Blue Zones (The five regions identified and discussed by Buettner in the book The Blue Zones: Lessons for Living Longer from the People Who’ve Lived the Longest):

Ikaria (Greece),

Nicoya (Costa Rica),

Okinawa (Japan),

Sardinia (Italy),

Loma Linda (California)

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Radka Beach is the founder of La Muse Blue and a journalist. Prior to studying journalism and psychology in London, Radka lived and worked in Asia and Europe as a fashion model. Later she worked for lifestyle publications globally, while contributing to her indulgent, wine dedicated blog. She loves cooking, food, history, people, traveling, and anything that makes everyday life better.