“The Match Era” is an award-winning documentary that explores the lives of energetic older adults in Canada, notably these of their 70s and 80s. Directed by Elton Hubner and produced by Eyes Multimedia, the movie challenges standard views on ageing and highlights some great benefits of sustaining a wholesome, energetic way of life nicely into your later years.
Within the video above, you’ll hear inspiring tales of seniors who, regardless of going through important well being challenges resembling most cancers, arthritis and coronary heart situations, proceed to interact in bodily difficult actions and lead vibrant lives.1
“The Match Era” emphasizes that age is just not 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 deliver 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Think about being a full-time ski teacher at 82 years outdated.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 folks 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, nicely, 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 dwelling and look ahead to time to cross,” 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 faculty. I like folks, and my job is to get them snug. It is an important motivation to maintain going … I discover it laborious to imagine, however technically my snowboarding continues to be getting higher. I’ve had folks say to me, ‘Oh, you are too outdated to do this.’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 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 numerous 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 embrace Lawrence Huzar, who, at 79 years outdated, performed hockey 3 times per 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 crew — 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 number of folks on the market who will make it easier to and there are definitely a number of operating teams you can be a part of, so if you wish to get on the market and do one thing, you may, however you must wish to, as a result of nobody can push you into doing something … My breast most cancers made me very, very optimistic.
Each day I get up now I am grateful as a result of when you will have 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, not less than 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 folks featured within the movie have completely 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 residing totally within the current second.
Regardless of going through well being challenges, lack of family members and different setbacks, every particular person within the movie leads a vibrant life crammed with pleasure and keenness. This pleasure is deeply linked to their bodily actions and the sturdy sense of group they construct by means of 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 can provide one thing to others.” She makes use of class time to show not solely respiration and stretching methods but in addition meditate, share tales and inform jokes. Outdoors of sophistication, she likes to drive her black sports activities automobile 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 exterior ourselves as if it is attributable to some mysterious others. In a nutshell, are you aware what stress is? This current second that you just’re having, you do not prefer it. You wish to eliminate one thing you don’t need otherwise you need one thing you do not have.
Then you definitely inform your pals, pay attention, I had such a stress, you can’t imagine 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 that the thoughts will assist hold you wholesome. Open your eyes, develop into conscious of the world.
This world right here is totally wonderful, is not it? The opposite pleasure is that these folks which were coming to see me all these years, they get it, and so they hold coming again and so they 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 nicely to take them round. Conserving the physique lubricated and transferring to construct the energy, to maintain the muscle tissue going and the digestion and sleeping nicely, that is simply to maintain you wholesome so your communication with life can go on. You could have the peacefulness, you will have joyfulness.
From this pleasure and peacefulness, you have 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 vital and being proper. Once you let that go, it does not matter. And then you definately develop into peaceable, however you must observe, really feel it, cross it on, and you’ll solely have enjoyable in the event you do not suppose significantly. If folks suppose the whole lot is so critical, the place is the enjoyable?”
Optimizing Mitochondrial Perform Facilitates Life Decisions That Convey Pleasure
At a foundational degree, pleasure comes from curiosity and the power to make decisions in your life. However in the event you don’t have sufficient mobile power, you may’t suppose correctly, not to mention have sufficient power left over to navigate optimistic life decisions. That is why enhancing your mitochondrial power manufacturing can deliver you pleasure.
Your mind, being probably the most energy-dependent organ, makes up solely about 2% of your body weight but consumes 20% of the power utilized by your whole physique.8 Due to this fact, a surplus of mobile power creation is critical to have the power 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.
Nonetheless, partaking in common bodily exercise can also be a robust method 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.
Needless to say when you get into your mid-40s and 50s — and definitely 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 recreation of hockey with buddies, 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 flawed. However then he realized it was the social facets 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 together with your canine or your buddy 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 mix 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 partaking in day by day actions they take pleasure in and stay up for every day.
Pleasure and well being share a deep and complicated connection, and people within the movie take pleasure in each. They don’t dwell on hardships or loss, as a substitute selecting to concentrate on the nice round them. This skill to acknowledge and alter unfavourable thought patterns is one other key to foster a extra joyful mindset.
As a substitute of catastrophizing and specializing in the unfavourable, shift your perspective to understand small joys and social alternatives. Finally, as Stone put it, you may 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 number of issues for outdated folks. They’ve to speak to a buddy, a neighbor, and say what do you do, the place do you go, the place’s the following group heart, 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 is no such thing as a pleasure out on the earth, solely what you set there.”