In Full Bloom: A Brain Education Guide for Successful Aging

PRAISE FOR THE AUTHORS AND IN FULL BLOOM

Ilchi Lee’s transcendent work is a constant inspiration, and I am deeply pleased to witness the increasing worldwide influence of Brain Education.

–Oscar Arias Sanchez, Nobel Peace Laureate

Ilchi Lee and Jessie Jones have skillfully combined knowledge from a variety of complementary and alternative domains to provide a highly readable and thought-provoking manual that links physical and mental activities into a holistic program designed to promote successful aging. Combining wisdom found in Western and Eastern philosophies, Lee and Jones provide practical and easy-to-implement strategies that will help promote physical and mental health and well-being.

–Wojtek Chodzko-Zajko, Ph.D., president, International Society for

Aging and Physical Activity

To age gracefully is not easy. We need all the help we can get. In Full Bloom is that one-of-a-kind help. It is an East-West synthesis of both knowledge and wisdom that idle-age and senior adults will find enlightening and practically helpful. A must-read for people who want to live their later years, not only gracefully, but also with life and vitality.

–Norman Lawson SPM, Ph.D., clinical psychologist

In Full Bloom offers simple, yet profound steps to help you fully realize your potential. Every phase of life should be engaging and invigorating. This easy to read guide shows you the way.

–David Bishop, president, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

This book does a big favor for those of us who know we are aging! The philosophy and approach presented respects our aging brain, and in a comfortable, easy-to-read style tells us on how our brains should continue to work for us and make us perform at our best. The East and West influence of the exercises presented makes this approach special. I have personally practiced almost all the exercises described here and found many of them fun. These exercises speak to us and tell us that the sky is the limit! They have truly fostered my intuitive side. What could be more rewarding?

–Mariam R. Chacko, M.D., Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX

Everyone is to age and then die. If one can live with full health in body and mind right until death, the burden from fear of death may be much lighter. This wonderful book will give people a better chance to realize this hope.

–Hee-Sup Shin, National Scientist Awardee of Korea

Ilchi Lee offers a common sense way to fulfillment for every individual. His philosophy guides us to a peaceful world in which all living creatures are accorded respect and compassionate treatment.

–Seymour Topping, author and professor of journalism

This book is the proof we’ve been looking for that old dogs CAN learn new tricks…and even create new ones which will challenge the young. By integrating Western processes and Eastern practices, one will discover a fountain of health, happiness and peace. Apply the five BEST options shared by Ilchi Lee and Jessie Jones, and live your BEST life yet as you become the CEO of your mind!

–Birgit D. Kamps, CEO, HireSynergy

IN FULL BLOOM

A BRAIN EDUCATION GUIDE

FOR

SUCCESSFUL AGING

ILCHI LEE AND JESSIE JONES, PH.D.

BEST Life Media

6560 Highway 179, Ste.114

Sedona, AZ 86351

www.bestlifemedia.com 

1-877-504-1106

Copyright © 2008 by Ilchi Lee and Jessie Jones

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be produced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

This book should be regarded as a reference source and is not intended to replace professional medical advice. Seek the advice of your physician before beginning this or any other fitness program. The authors and the publishers disclaim any liability arising directly or indirectly from the use of this book.

First paperback edition: 2008

Library of Congress Control Number: 2008920809

If you are unable to purchase this book from your local book seller, you can order through www.bestlifemedia.com  or www.amazon.com,  or by calling 1-877-504-1106.

Wrinkles should merely indicate where smiles have been.

–Mark Twain

Contents

Introduction: Healthy Brain, Healthy Aging

The Truth About Age and the Brain

The Roaring Forties

The Myths of Maturity

Years of Peace, Giving, and Relationships

The Five Steps of Brain Education System Training

Your BEST Moments

The Jangsaeng Lifestyle

Six Healthy Habits for an Aging Brain

Young Brain Quiz

Chapter 1: Your Sensitized Brain

The Benefits of Exercise

Being Fit Above the Neck

A Word About Ki

Good for the Body, Good for the Brain

Food and Your Brain

The Work of Brain Sensitizing

The Stress Connection

Creating New Pathways to Health

Brain Sensitizing Activities

Proper Stance

Body Opening Exercises

Stretching Exercises

Energy Awareness Exercises

Chapter 2: Your Versatile Brain

Your Brain Is Never Too Old to Adapt

Use It Or Lose Everything

The Specter of Alzheimer’s

Ask Your Brain

Get Out Your Puzzle Book

The Rewards of Age

Brain Versatilizing

Gray Matters: More Things You Can Do for Your Brain

Brain Versatilizing Activities

Brain Balance Exercises

Body Balance Exercises

Body-Brain Coordination Exercises

Brain Flexibility Exercises

Chapter 3: Your Refreshed Brain

Your Emotional Set Point

Knowing and Cleansing Your Moods

The Persistence of Memory

Your Mellow Old Brain

Growing Your Emotional Intelligence

Change Your Longitude

What Is Brain Refreshing?

Simple Ways to Adjust Your Longitude

Brain Refreshing Activities

Self-Reflection Exercises

Emotional Release Prep

Emotional Release Exercises

Healing Guide

Chapter 4: Your Integrated Brain

Your Three-Level Brain

The Roadblocks of Age

Reinventing Yourself

Go Deep

Provocative Questions

Creating a New You

I Didn?t Know I Could Do That!

A New Consciousness

Asking the Right Questions

Brain Integrating Activities

Circuit Drawing

Brain Wave Vibration

Creativity Exercises

Energy-Building Exercises

Chapter 5: Your Masterful Brain

Completing Your Transformation

A Spiritual Quest

Master of the House

Finding Your Purpose

Meditation for Life

The Power of Mental Intention

You Decide

Follow Your Dreams

Brain-Mastering Lifestyle

Brain Mastering Activities

Meditation Postures

Vision Meditation

Developing Your True Identity

Afterword: Embodying the Jangsaeng Ideal

Appendix

Walk Yourself Young: Jangsaeng Walking

Overview of Brain Education System Training

Brain Education for Successful Aging Program

The Senior Fitness Test

Bibliography

Index

About the Authors

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Special thanks to Tim Vandehey and Nicole Dean for bringing just the right style and tone to the writing of this book; to Jiyoung Oh for her guidance in bringing this book to fruition at BEST Life Media; to Nora Lee and Jason Cessna for the development of the Brain Education for Successful Aging program; to Yoori Kim and Ji-in Kim for bringing the design of this book to full blossom; to Al Choi for his charming sketches; to Edward Randolph, Gaye Anthony, Karon Miller, and Mary Dunton for striking the perfect poses; to Tara Kim and the Dahn Foundation for their dedication to bringing Brain Education to seniors; and to the many healers and practitioners whose dedication and enthusiasm bring so much to so many through Brain Education.

INTRODUCTION

Healthy Brain, Healthy Aging

The brain is the seat of our humanity. The first spark of brainwave activity marks the beginning of each human life; the final cessation of that activity marks that life’s end. Every experience, emotion, and memory reaches us through the brain’s mediation. It is the source of all our art, science, and culture. Powered by untold trillions of neural connections, we hug our children, learn to hit a baseball, write first novels, pray to our gods, and reach out to help our fellows in need. In practical terms, we are our brains.

Consequently, it can be disturbing to reach middle age or beyond and hear what the popular media has to say about the things that are in store for our brains as we grow older. Our culture is filled with images of aged individuals whose minds are foggy, confused, and useless. When we think of old age and the brain, we think of words such as dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, and Parkinson’s disease. Even if our thoughts are not concerned with such doom and gloom, conventional wisdom still tells us that finding a vigorous, creative, energetic, improving brain in an aging body is as rare as finding buried treasure at the bottom of the ocean.

None of us like to think about losing our memory or our ability to think and reason as we age. Yet that is precisely what most of us believe will happen no matter what we do. So we passively accept the notion of becoming forgetful and assume it’s inevitable. We fret over memory lapses in our fifties and sixties and worry that we are experiencing an early onset of Alzheimer’s or some other form of dementia. We tell uneasy jokes about seniors who have lost their identities and laugh while we pray that we won’t be the butt of someone else’s joke when we’re ninety. Well, perhaps it’s high time for some myth-busting about the aging brain.

The Truth About Age and the Brain

For more than twenty-five years, we have worked to understand the truth about the brain and its role as the source and mediator of all human activity. More importantly, we have sought knowledge about the ways that each of us can tap the brain’s virtually limitless potential for growth, happiness, and peaceful, healthful living. In our search, we have discovered a new truth about the brain: It is infinitely adaptable. Because our brains are the final determinants of our culture, consciousness, and behavior, by developing our brains as we would develop a muscle, we give ourselves the power to change our reality. Our brains make our world; it is high time we took control of our brains to make a world we want to live in.

In this book, we will show you that instead of passively accepting outdated ideas of the aging brain, you can take an active role in helping your brain evolve and unleash its potential. Brain Education System Training (BEST) is a method through which you can develop your innate human capacities for health, well-being, achievement, and inner peace through optimal management of your brain. With BEST, you can teach your brain to become more productive and creative even as you age. You can foster greater harmony between your mind and your body and discover new joy and peace in your life and in the world around you. In essence, you can defy traditional thinking about the aging brain and enjoy more mental agility and enhanced creativity in later life.

The information presented in this book is neither guesswork nor wishful thinking. It is the result of years of scientific and experiential study of the brain’s nature and its responsiveness to the actions of the body. It is also the product of Ilchi Lee’s work with yoga, health and wellness education, meditation, and other Asian traditions that unify mind and body into a healthful, integrated whole, as well as Dr. Jessie Jones’s work, especially in gerokinesiology, the specialized science of the ways in which exercise and aging interact.

The truth about the aging brain is simple but extraordinary: Although some loss of clarity and memory skill is inevitable as the years go by, much of the brain’s aging process is within your control. You can have a fit brain at age sixty, seventy, eighty, and beyond. You need only make the choice to educate your brain for a better way of life.

The Roaring Forties

For sailors, the phrase roaring forties refers to the area below forty degrees south latitude, where the ocean begins to become unrelentingly dangerous to small vessels because of huge seas and high winds. But for every man and woman, the term can also mean a time after age forty when the brain faces increasing danger of decline. New research has shown that in the brains of people in their forties, the parts of the brain involved in memory and cognitive function start losing their ability to function, at least in some people. Though studies are by no means conclusive, it suggests that in our fifth decade of life many of us may start experiencing physical brain breakdown without realizing it.

We do not see this as any surprise. After all, many of us have experienced difficulty remembering things in middle age–where we left the car keys, what we went into the kitchen to get, and so on. That the brain, like the rest of the body, undergoes some age-related change is not news. We lose between five and ten percent of our brain mass between the ages of twenty and eighty, and with that natural change comes some impairment, such as slower reaction time behind the wheel of a car, or failure to recall the name of a recent acquaintance. But although the aging brain naturally suffers some damage, dementia is not an unavoidable outcome of age. There is much you can do to prevent it.

Another commonly held myth about the aging brain is that our genetic inheritance puts our ultimate brain health beyond our control. We assume that because Aunt Sally forgot who she was by the time she was eighty-five, the same experience is likely in store for us. But was Aunt Sally obese? Did she exercise? What was her diet like? Did she learn new things as she got older, or did she stop learning? A raft of long-term research, particularly work carried out by the MacArthur Foundation,