“The Match Era” is an award-winning documentary that explores the lives of energetic older adults in Canada, significantly these of their 70s and 80s. Directed by Elton Hubner and produced by Eyes Multimedia, the movie challenges standard views on growing old and highlights the benefits of sustaining a wholesome, energetic way of life effectively into your later years.
Within the video above, you’ll hear inspiring tales of seniors who, regardless of dealing with vital well being challenges reminiscent of most cancers, arthritis and coronary heart circumstances, proceed to have interaction in bodily difficult actions and lead vibrant lives.1
“The Match Era” emphasizes that age will not be a barrier to health and should encourage you to pursue an energetic way of life and discover pleasure in your life. Additional, the documentary demonstrates how making daring decisions that carry you pleasure considerably enhances each your psychological well-being and bodily well being.
Match Seniors Show Age Is Only a Quantity
Think about being a full-time ski teacher at 82 years outdated. That is only a day within the lifetime of George Tjelios-Nicholas, one of many energetic individuals featured within the movie. When it’s not winter, you’ll find Tjelios-Nicholas biking round Whistler or paddleboarding.2
“George Tjelios-Nicholas is without doubt one of the foremost characters of the documentary and, effectively, such a personality! He used to smoke, has undergone a number of surgical procedures and nonetheless suffers from fixed again ache — all good causes to remain residence and look forward to time to move,” in accordance with Eyes Multimedia.3 But, this doesn’t cross Tjelios-Nicholas’ thoughts:4
“Instructing snowboarding is so rewarding! That is why I just like the ski college. I like individuals, and my job is to get them comfy. It is a fantastic motivation to maintain going … I discover it exhausting to imagine, however technically my snowboarding remains to be getting higher. I’ve had individuals say to me, ‘Oh, you are too outdated to try this.’ I am not loopy, I do not go off huge jumps and stuff like that, however I ski fairly quick.
I’ve had stitches in my head from skis hitting me on the top, I’ve dislocated a shoulder and I’ve had two tibial osteotomies as a result of my knees have been worn out from snowboarding … After which I’ve had two knee replacements. I had prostate most cancers too and I overcame that. I’ve a variety of again ache, I’ve arthritis and I am nonetheless functioning, however I imagine that the extra energetic I keep, the much less impact it will have on me.”
Others featured within the movie embody Lawrence Huzar, who, at 79 years outdated, performed hockey thrice every week and retains busy the remainder of the time by constructing and repairing issues in his yard — an ideal pastime for this retired mechanical engineer. “I’ve by no means been sick in my life. I don’t actually have a physician,” he says.5 Whereas Huzar lives alone since his spouse handed away, he’s not lonely.
He says he’s content material being alone and in addition enjoys spending time with different hockey gamers on his staff — a number of of whom are related ages. Gwen McFarlan is one other inspirational athlete featured within the movie. At 81 years outdated, the world document marathon runner, retired instructor and most cancers survivor continued to compete in races, regardless of accidents:6
“There’s a lot of individuals on the market who will make it easier to and there are definitely a lot of operating teams you could be part of, so if you wish to get on the market and do one thing, you’ll be able to, however you must wish to, as a result of nobody can push you into doing something … My breast most cancers made me very, very constructive.
On daily basis I get up now I am grateful as a result of when you have got one thing like that occur to you and you do not know if you are going to come out of it, you are simply so glad to be alive and simply face no matter at the moment is and overlook it and begin a brand new day tomorrow. I am 100, a minimum of 100, and I wish to run as a lot as I can till then. I do know I’ll decelerate, I do know that, however I am not going to cease.”
Optimism, Pleasure and Social Connections Are Widespread Threads
Whereas every of the individuals featured within the movie have completely different pursuits and life tales, you’ll discover a number of widespread threads, together with optimism, pleasure and a real pleasure for all times. They every have sturdy social connections of their communities and have interaction in every day with a way of goal, whereas residing absolutely within the current second.
Regardless of dealing with well being challenges, lack of family members and different setbacks, every particular person within the movie leads a vibrant life full of pleasure and keenness. This pleasure is deeply linked to their bodily actions and the sturdy sense of neighborhood they construct by shared experiences and social interactions.
Ava Stone, a yoga teacher in her 70s, says, “To me, it is the most important pleasure to place myself in a spot the place I may give one thing to others.” She makes use of class time to show not solely respiratory and stretching strategies but additionally meditate, share tales and inform jokes. Outdoors of sophistication, she likes to drive her black sports activities automotive round city and encourages others to have enjoyable and create their very own pleasure:7
“Now stress comes from not appreciating what’s, not appreciating life, your life that you simply created. We blame stress exterior ourselves as if it is brought on by some mysterious others. In a nutshell, have you learnt what stress is? This current second that you simply’re having, you do not prefer it. You wish to eliminate one thing you do not need otherwise you need one thing you do not have.
You then inform your pals, pay attention, I had such a stress, you can’t imagine it, what the husband and the children did. Oh, at work … And but, you retain creating it … Resisting life because it reveals as much as you is your stress. This consciousness has purchased me a lot pleasure and it got here from yoga, and when you have any smartness you already know that the thoughts will assist maintain you wholesome. Open your eyes, turn into conscious of the world.
This world right here is totally wonderful, is not it? The opposite pleasure is that these individuals which have been coming to see me all these years, they get it, they usually maintain coming again they usually need me to speak and wish to have enjoyable and loopy stuff. So, these persons are alert, having fun with life and socializing.
… Solely the individuals who have objectives, who’ve plans, who’ve pleasure, they need their physique effectively to take them round. Retaining the physique lubricated and transferring to construct the energy, to maintain the muscle groups going and the digestion and sleeping effectively, that is simply to maintain you wholesome so your communication with life can go on. You have got the peacefulness, you have got joyfulness.
From this pleasure and peacefulness, you have come to pure information to say if I am sad, I am creating it, completely. The ego is one thing you create from day one, needing to be essential and being proper. If you let that go, it does not matter. And then you definitely turn into peaceable, however you must apply, really feel it, move it on, and you may solely have enjoyable in the event you do not suppose critically. If individuals suppose every little thing is so severe, the place is the enjoyable?”
Optimizing Mitochondrial Operate Facilitates Life Selections That Carry Pleasure
At a foundational degree, pleasure comes from curiosity and the flexibility to make decisions in your life. However in the event you don’t have sufficient mobile power, you’ll be able to’t suppose correctly, not to mention have sufficient power left over to navigate constructive life decisions. Because of this enhancing your mitochondrial power manufacturing can carry you pleasure.
Your mind, being essentially the most energy-dependent organ, makes up solely about 2% of your body weight but consumes 20% of the power utilized by your complete physique.8 Due to this fact, a surplus of mobile power creation is important to have the flexibility to permit your mind to work optimally.
Avoiding dietary pitfalls like extra linoleic acid, within the type of vegetable and seed oils, is instrumental in optimizing mitochondrial perform and realizing your full capability to expertise pleasure. Components like estrogen and endotoxins can even deplete your mobile power.
Nevertheless, participating in common bodily exercise can be a robust option to improve mitochondrial well being, contributing to improved power metabolism. Train encourages the creation of latest mitochondria and helps the prevailing ones work higher, producing extra power extra effectively.
Understand that when you get into your mid-40s and 50s — and positively into your 70s and 80s — train ought to be enjoyable and stress-reducing, not aggressive. In his evaluation, Dr. James O’Keefe, a heart specialist with the Mid-America Coronary heart Institute at St. Louis Hospital in Kansas Metropolis, stresses the significance of “social train” over solo train: enjoying a sport of hockey with mates, for instance.
O’Keefe and colleagues printed a examine in 2018 that checked out long-term granular information on bodily exercise and longevity.9 It turned out enjoying tennis added 9.5 years of additional life expectancy, badminton 6.2 and soccer 4.7, in comparison with 3.2 years for jogging and 1.5 years for well being membership actions like weight lifting and operating on a treadmill.
At first, O’Keefe thought the evaluation had someway gone mistaken. However then he realized it was the social elements of the sports activities that conferred the added advantages.
“Exercising and making social connections on the identical time, that’s an absolute goldmine of a long life exercise. That implies that even strolling along with your canine or your good friend or [playing] pickleball is large … The entire thing is to maneuver your physique in a enjoyable, playful method and make it social.”
Pleasure and Well being Go Hand in Hand
This mixture of enjoyable, social bodily exercise is clearly evident in “The Match Era.” Additional, the idea of “vorfreude,” or anticipatory pleasure, additionally considerably improves happiness and well-being by permitting you to savor the anticipation of future pleasures. This can be a idea these featured within the movie additionally appear to totally embrace, by participating in every day actions they get pleasure from and look ahead to every day.
Pleasure and well being share a deep and complex connection, and people within the movie get pleasure from each. They don’t dwell on hardships or loss, as an alternative selecting to give attention to the nice round them. This skill to acknowledge and alter damaging thought patterns is one other key to foster a extra joyful mindset.
As a substitute of catastrophizing and specializing in the damaging, shift your perspective to understand small joys and social alternatives. Finally, as Stone put it, you’ll be able to construct the life you need, and it’s by no means too late to show a brand new leaf:10
“If persons are older and lonely, there’s a lot of issues for outdated individuals. They’ve to speak to a good friend, a neighbor, and say what do you do, the place do you go, the place’s the subsequent neighborhood heart, what’s on this system? It must be a behavior like brushing your enamel or sure stuff you do, and then you definitely begin having fun with it. There isn’t a pleasure out on the planet, solely what you place there.”
