With the new year upon us (but many of the old stressors remaining), you may be hesitant to receive advice about “new beginnings.” After all, the current state of affairs has enough curveballs and challenges to leave most of us unwilling to rock our personal boats right now. Yet, as we’ve previously suggested, resilience is the name of the game during these times. Most of us will get through this and will return to some level of normalcy and move on with our lives. And in that case, keeping ourselves healthy and able to participate in whatever comes our way is critical. So no better time to review the latest thinking on what you need to do to age in as healthy a way as possible! 

To start, there are the traditional sorts of useful recommendations and advice that come from aging experts. For example, The Health In Aging Foundation (from the American Geriatrics Society) has a Top 10 New Year’s Healthy Resolutions Tip Sheet for you to consider. The advice is not terribly surprising to anyone who is trying to lead a healthier life, but along with recommendations for sufficient sleep, physical exercise, and healthy eating come suggestions about guarding against falls (1 out of every 3 older adults fall every year) and recommendations to continue or resume annual check-ups (which for many have gone by the wayside during the pandemic.) With perhaps more detail and certainly more immediate relevance comes the valuable advice from Dr. Leslie Kernisan of Better Health While Aging. Her Top 10 Checklist for Better Health & Aging in 2022 has up-to-date Covid insights and recommendations, along with practical advice about a range of topics, including your personal health records, your blood pressure, and even your advance planning for financial matters. Dr. Kernisan’s advice combines expert medical opinion with experiential wisdom about the day-to-day concerns that crop up as you get older.

There’s also valuable and timely advice from other sources to consider. Perhaps the biggest theme throughout these alternative recommendations comes from the recognition that your mind and body are completely intertwined so that paying attention to the brain and mental health becomes as critical as anything you do to support your physical aging. For example, Dr. David Sinclair, an aging researcher at Harvard, not only has recommendations about exercise and cold baths (!) but he also implores you to maintain your mental health. “Your mental and physical health are deeply connected,” he advises and he not only recommends meditation but also suggests a check-in with a mental health professional if needed. Sinclair also makes clear that your brain controls your longevity as much as your physical health. Furthermore, according to a recent New York Times article on The Secrets To Successful Aging in 2022, successful, healthy aging is as much a matter of mental adaptation (recognize your limits and find rewarding alternatives) to keeping your brain in shape the way “cognitive super-agers” do, such as paying attention to hearing and vision, engaging in social activities with others, and keeping your mind curious (along, of course, with exercise and healthy eating).

For one more source of advice, consider the words of wisdom from the recent Forbes post, 10 Pieces Of Expert Advice On Aging Well In 2022. Along with the advice to commit to healthy brain habits comes recommendations about embracing the opportunities afforded through Telehealth, availing yourself of such assistive technologies like hearing aids, and jumping into educational opportunities wherever they present themselves. As the article states, “It’s never too late to take care of your brain.” So in 2022, prioritize your health to ensure that whatever bonus years longevity lavishes upon you are spent in as good physical and mental health as possible.