Think young, grow young?

Did you know that how we think about age—individually and as a society—can have profound effects on how we actually age?

The answer is yes! Not just effects, but discernible biological effects! The idea that we can think ourselves young, that our minds could effect changes in our bodies, is what Harvard University psychologist Ellen Langer, PhD, calls the psychology of the possible and what others have called the biology of hope or the biology of belief.

The notion is that if your mind-set is altered, your body will change accordingly. Or more simply, think young and your body reacts by becoming younger. Really.

In our culture, aging (especially for women) equates with many negative stereotypes that we associate with growing older. The question is, do you become what society expects you to become, what all those "You're 40. . .or 50. . .or 60 and you're over the hill" birthday cards tell you that you are?

Could be. There is actual evidence that if you think "old," you may bring to pass a self-fulfilling prophecy of decline. A Yale study has concluded that perceptions held by people about aging had more impact on how long they lived than did their blood pressure or cholesterol levels or whether they were smokers. Regardless of age, gender, socioeconomic status, loneliness, or—get this—the actual state of their health, the men and women with positive views on aging lived 7.5 years longer than those who bought into the negative stereotypes.

Crazy, right? Perhaps, but no less true. And for me, that's definitely something very much worth thinking about.

Think you, and grow young!