You Could Be Dancing
What Do You Expect?
IN 1981, Ellen Langer and her colleagues drove two groups of men in their seventies and eighties to an old monastery in New Hampshire that was decorated to look like it was 22 years earlier. Photos from the 50’s lined the walls and shows from that era played on the TV. In her words, “These guys were old. Not like 80 is the new 60 old. Some of them used walkers.” They were also treated like younger men. For example: when they arrived at the retreat site no one carried in their suitcases.
The first group stayed for one week and were asked to pretend they were younger men, once again living in the 1950s. The second group, who arrived the week afterward, were told to simply reminisce about that era.
Before and after the experiment, both groups of men took a battery of cognitive and physical tests, and after just one week, there were dramatic positive changes for all the participants. Both groups were stronger and more flexible. Height, weight, gait, posture, hearing, vision—even their performance on intelligence tests had improved. Their joints were more flexible, their shoulders wider, their fingers not only more agile, but longer and less gnarled by arthritis. But the men who had acted as if they were actually back in 1959 showed significantly more improvement. Those who had impersonated younger men seemed to have bodies that actually were younger. By the end of the experiment some of the men were actually playing touch football.
Our beliefs and expectations can have a profound effect on our biology. By now most people have heard about the importance of having a positive attitude, but deep down what are you really thinking? Are you quietly sabotaging your own best intent
Where do these beliefs even come from? It’s can be a worthwhile exercise to notice thoughts about aging. You can even write them down and then ask, “Is that true?” “Does that always happen?” “Are there models of aging that you wish you could have?” “What thoughts would I like to have?” A lot of what goes on in our heads isn’t even true.
You are the author of your story. If you are afraid of the ending — start writing a different story today.