“The Match Era” is an award-winning documentary that explores the lives of lively older adults in Canada, notably these of their 70s and 80s. Directed by Elton Hubner and produced by Eyes Multimedia, the movie challenges typical views on getting old and highlights some great benefits of sustaining a wholesome, lively life-style 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 resembling most cancers, arthritis and coronary heart circumstances, proceed to interact 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 lively life-style and discover pleasure in your life. Additional, the documentary demonstrates how making daring selections that convey 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 previous. That is only a day within the lifetime of George Tjelios-Nicholas, one of many lively 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 essential 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 house and anticipate time to go,” 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 snug. It is an excellent motivation to maintain going … I discover it exhausting to consider, however technically my snowboarding remains to be getting higher. I’ve had individuals say to me, ‘Oh, you are too previous to do this.’ I am not loopy, I do not go off large jumps and stuff like that, however I ski fairly quick.
I’ve had stitches in my head from skis hitting me on the pinnacle, I’ve dislocated a shoulder and I’ve had two tibial osteotomies as a result of my knees had 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 lots of again ache, I’ve arthritis and I am nonetheless functioning, however I consider that the extra lively I keep, the much less impact it is going to have on me.”
Others featured within the movie embody Lawrence Huzar, who, at 79 years previous, performed hockey 3 times 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 likewise enjoys spending time with different hockey gamers on his workforce — a number of of whom are comparable ages. Gwen McFarlan is one other inspirational athlete featured within the movie. At 81 years previous, the world document marathon runner, retired instructor and most cancers survivor continued to compete in races, regardless of accidents:6
“There’s a number of individuals on the market who will assist you to and there are actually a number of working teams you can be a part of, so if you wish to get on the market and do one thing, you possibly can, however you need to wish to, as a result of nobody can push you into doing something … My breast most cancers made me very, very constructive.
Day-after-day I get up now I am grateful as a result of when you’ve 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 as we speak is and overlook it and begin a brand new day tomorrow. I am taking a look at 100, at the very least 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 Frequent Threads
Whereas every of the individuals featured within the movie have totally different pursuits and life tales, you’ll discover a number of frequent threads, together with optimism, pleasure and a real pleasure for all times. They every have sturdy social connections of their communities and interact in every day with a way of goal, whereas dwelling 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 stuffed with pleasure and fervour. This pleasure is deeply related to their bodily actions and the sturdy sense of group they construct by shared experiences and social interactions.
Ava Stone, a yoga teacher in her 70s, says, “To me, it is the largest 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 respiration and stretching methods but additionally meditate, share tales and inform jokes. Exterior 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 just created. We blame stress outdoors ourselves as if it is attributable to some mysterious others. In a nutshell, have you learnt what stress is? This current second that you just’re having, you do not prefer it. You wish to do away with one thing you do not need otherwise you need one thing you do not have.
Then you definately inform your mates, pay attention, I had such a stress, you can’t consider it, what the husband and the youngsters 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 in case you have any smartness you recognize that the thoughts will assist maintain you wholesome. Open your eyes, develop into conscious of the world.
This world right here is completely wonderful, is not it? The opposite pleasure is that these individuals which were 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 individuals are alert, having fun with life and socializing.
… Solely the individuals who have targets, who’ve plans, who’ve pleasure, they need their physique effectively to take them round. Conserving the physique lubricated and transferring to construct the energy, to maintain the muscular tissues going and the digestion and sleeping effectively, that is simply to maintain you wholesome so your communication with life can go on. You’ve gotten the peacefulness, you’ve got joyfulness.
From this pleasure and peacefulness, you’ve got come to pure data 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 would not matter. And then you definately develop into peaceable, however you need to observe, really feel it, go it on, and you may solely have enjoyable in the event you do not assume severely. If individuals assume all the pieces is so severe, the place is the enjoyable?”
Optimizing Mitochondrial Perform Facilitates Life Decisions That Convey Pleasure
At a foundational degree, pleasure comes from curiosity and the flexibility to make selections in your life. However in the event you don’t have sufficient mobile vitality, you possibly can’t assume correctly, not to mention have sufficient vitality left over to navigate constructive life selections. For this reason bettering your mitochondrial vitality manufacturing can convey 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 vitality utilized by your total physique.8 Due to this fact, a surplus of mobile vitality 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 operate and realizing your full capability to expertise pleasure. Elements like estrogen and endotoxins may also deplete your mobile vitality.
Nevertheless, partaking in common bodily exercise can also be a strong approach to improve mitochondrial well being, contributing to improved vitality metabolism. Train encourages the creation of latest mitochondria and helps the present ones work higher, producing extra vitality extra effectively.
Remember the fact that when you get into your mid-40s and 50s — and definitely into your 70s and 80s — train must 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 recreation of hockey with associates, for instance.
O’Keefe and colleagues revealed a research in 2018 that checked out long-term granular knowledge 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 working on a treadmill.
At first, O’Keefe thought the evaluation had one way or the other gone unsuitable. 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 big … 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. It is a idea these featured within the movie additionally appear to totally embrace, by partaking in every day actions they get pleasure from and look ahead to every day.
Pleasure and well being share a deep and complicated connection, and people within the movie get pleasure from each. They don’t dwell on hardships or loss, as an alternative selecting to concentrate on the great round them. This skill to acknowledge and alter destructive thought patterns is one other key to foster a extra joyful mindset.
As a substitute of catastrophizing and specializing in the destructive, shift your perspective to understand small joys and social alternatives. Finally, as Stone put it, you possibly can construct the life you need, and it’s by no means too late to show a brand new leaf:10
“If individuals are older and lonely, there’s a number of issues for previous 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 group middle, what’s on this system? It must be a behavior like brushing your enamel or sure belongings you do, and then you definately begin having fun with it. There isn’t any pleasure out on the planet, solely what you set there.”
