Wendy Whelan, a star of the NYCB since 1991, has thought a lot about longevity. She knows that dancers don’t dance forever. “Will I dance after I quit dancing?” she asks ahead of the question. “Absolutely. I feel depressed if I stop dancing. I actually get more injuries when I’m dancing less.”
Moving, she insists, “opens me up physically and mentally.” She’s been dancing since age 3; her mother, a phys ed teacher, thought it would absorb her daughter’s surplus energy. “Dancing is more mental than I thought,” she confides. “You have to deal with nerves and egos – my own and others’.”
Long lauded for her elegant yet exquisitely precise physicality as a dancer, Whelan’s performances noticeably deepened a few years ago. Sidelined for a few months with her first injury, she grappled with perfection and vulnerability. “I forgave things. I got more peaceful.” When she came back, the music sounded different, the steps felt different. She felt more connected to everything. “I realized nothing is perfect and I became more grateful for what was there,” she says. “I found the beauty of imperfection. A wise woman once told me that the only perfect thing in life is perfectly dead. My art form celebrates being alive.”
Walking and Stretching
More than your actual health status, maintaining physical activity as you age – whether taking a stroll, dancing, or working in the garden – adds years to your life, even if you were previously sedentary. Physical activity benefits mood and promotes a sense of self-efficacy, spurring you to keep on trucking. Six months of regular aerobic exercise also reverses loss of brain tissue that occurs with age.
Speaking in Tongues
Lifelong use of two languages promotes longevity by delaying the onset of dementia by four years. Bilingualism enhances brain vasculature and neural plasticity. Earlier studies by the same team showed that speaking two languages increases attention and cognitive control in kids and older adults.
Grape Expectations
The phytonutrient resveratrol in red grapes and red wine counters aging the same way calorie restriction does. Both activate a family of enzymes, sirtuins, that slow the body’s metabolic machinery and offset the damage of a high-calorie diet.
The High Life
Moving to the mountains, rather than living in lowlands, can keep you going longer, even if you have high blood lipids and high blood pressure. Adaptation to altitude helps the body cope with lower levels of oxygen, and walking uphill regularly aids the heart.
Winning a Nobel Prize
Winning the big one – as opposed to just being nominated or toiling in the trenches like everyone else – adds nearly two years to the life span. It’s not the cash that does it; it’s the sheer boost to status that works “a kind of health-giving magic.”
A Supportive Spouse
A good marriage counteracts the wear and tear of life on multiple body systems.
Good Friends
Close family ties are nice, but having a network of good friends boosts life span in old age. Friends keep us from doing unhealthy things like smoking, and nudge us to get medical help for troubling symptoms. Feeling connected has positive physiologic effects on many systems, counteracting stress.
By:Hara Estroff Marano
Wendy Whelan
This content is Copyright Sussex Publishers, LLC. 2006.