There are countless ways to age. Some people welcome the wisdom and grace that naturally accompanies increased time in life. Others fight the prospect of gaining years with an insistence that they will remain “young.” Patricia Szulborski, of Bernardston, Mass., prefers to greet her increasing years with a balance of healthy activity and positive attitude. She exercises six days a week—jogging, walking and lifting weights—and, importantly, has done so for 30 years. She manages her diet with regular doses of fresh fruits and vegetables, as well as multivitamins and herbal supplements.

“I take very good care of myself,” says Szulborski, a 63-year-old retired school superintendent and principal. “I pay a lot of attention to it – it’s paramount for me. I think people don’t have to succumb to disease and deterioration as they grow older. I feel like I’m still 40.”

Sally Rubenstone, 56, of Northampton, agrees with Szulborski on the benefits of exercise to combat the effects of aging. Rubenstone jogs several times a week, but unlike most people her age, much of her aerobic exercise comes as a result of parenting her athletic and energetic 10-year-old son, Jack. “I’m in an unusual situation,” she says. “I get a lot of de facto exercise throwing the football with my son, biking, and climbing up into the tree house.”

Above all, though, Rubenstone credits her positive outlook for helping her feel youthful. “I’m a chronic optimist,” she says, “and I think that attitude is extremely important to my life contentment.”

Aging well is of course a subjective concept. In American society, it seems to entail remaining active physically and mentally, like Szulborski and Rubenstone, maintaining a balance of healthy relationships and fulfilling pastimes, and retaining a sense of worth—the same ingredients that contribute to contentment and satisfaction at any age.

For whatever approach one takes to aging, an arsenal of techniques, remedies, herbs, chemicals, philosophies and activities offers solutions to a successful aging process. Yoga, herbs like St. John’s Wort, aerobic exercise, intellectual stimulation and social interaction are a small sampling of possibilities that purport to assist with a softer progression toward older years. And it’s nearly universally accepted that at least some combination of exercise and a nutritious, moderate diet is a necessary accompaniment to healthy aging.

“Aging well means feeling good about your daily life and your social network,” says Benjamin Liptzin, chairman of the Department of Psychiatry at Baystate Health in Springfield and a specialist in geriatric psychiatry. “It’s also helpful for people to take care of themselves by exercising, eating well, not smoking and having balance in their lives.”

These days, more Americans are living longer, and the trend is expected to continue. People born in the United States now live an average of 77 years. By 2030, Americans aged 65 or older will represent 20 percent of the country’s population, about 71 million people, according to projections by the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), a division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. But simply living a long time is not its own reward. It’s how we age—the quality of our lives—that matters.

People entering their latter years in western Massachusetts have a particular advantage. The natural beauty of this region, the thousands of miles of trails for hiking, the high percentage of educational institutions, numerous options for alternative medical, physical and spiritual practices, a widespread belief in good health and spending time outdoors, unlimited cultural stimulation—this palette of lifestyle components specific to the region contributes to a more enjoyable progression through life.

“There’s not much data available, but the lifestyle in western Mass. is less stressful than in busy cities,” notes Liptzin.

“We love New England,” says Rubenstone of her family. “It’s hard to find another community like this where people choose to live healthy lives. Many people here have the means to live lives of excess, but they choose instead to live moderately and modestly.”

Indeed, those living in Massachusetts are handling their aging well, CDC statistics show. The state ranks in the top ten nationally in healthy aging categories such as eating at least five fruits and vegetables daily (seventh); lack of obesity (fifth); recent cholesterol checks (fourth); and a low rate of physically unhealthy days (sixth).

Nationwide, according to Liptzin, a number of myths about becoming older, such as the onset of cognitive impairment, depression, sexual inactivity and untreatable disease, do not apply in this country. Though it’s largely assumed that

these maladies come with aging, he has found that older Americans do not suffer inordinately from them, and that they are not absolute accompaniments of increasing age.

There are, of course, superficial conditions that tend to accompany the aging process, such as hair loss and graying, and loss of skin elasticity. But as Liptzin and others emphasize, the detrimental effects of aging will be minimized by continued active use of the mind and body, and fending off the likelihood of disease with a proper diet.

A healthy diet entails more than just the food we consume, notes nutritionist Chris Crane, a supplement buyer at Whole Foods Market in Hadley. “The single most important contributor to healthy aging is caloric management,” she says. Maintaining a favorable balance of calories ingested with calories

used will keep at bay the detrimental increase in weight that often accompanies aging.

Further, she explains, it’s important to eat foods containing a high percentage of anti-oxidants, such as vitamins C and E, and Beta-carotene. These molecules, which naturally exist in many fruits and vegetables, assist the body in fending off free radicals—damaging cells that attack other healthy cells—one of the main contributors to disease and vulnerable immunity.

Though extra herbs and vitamin pills can help fill the missing gaps of a perfect diet, Crane avers that one does not need these to achieve good health. “Is there a magic herb or pill? No,” she says. “Vitamins, minerals, proteins, etcetera—you need to get those from your food. But we don’t all eat as we should.

For those cases, there are pill-form supplements that may be helpful.”

Like most experts who deal with aging, Crane, who is in her 50s, reiterates the classic, tried-and-true remedies. “If you really want to age well, the cornerstone is to develop a healthy lifestyle,” she says. “Get a good night’s sleep, don’t smoke, exercise, manage stress, eat right and perhaps take a basic multivitamin.”

Szulborski agrees, but she would add one important ingredient: “Laugh a lot,” she says. “You’ve got to have a good sense of humor. That has a lot to do with good health and stress management.”

Managing stress can be a tall order in today’s frenetic American society, even for those who no longer work full-time.

“Have a support system,” recommends Liptzin, “and a range of physical and mental activities you enjoy.”

For Ruth Ann Lundeberg, a yoga instructor and co-owner of Mama Nirvana New Yoga studios in Amherst and Easthampton, one of the answers to managing stress and staying healthy is practicing yoga, a mindful, meditative and physical system of stretches and breathing techniques that emphasizes mental focus.

“Yoga is really like the fountain of youth,” says Lundeberg, who is 42. “A lot of people, as they age, lose their physical and mental capacities. But with yoga, it doesn’t happen. The health benefits are incomparable.”

By stimulating blood flow through rigorous stretches and expanding the lungs and other internal organs, yoga maintains the body’s elasticity and energy, Lundeberg explains. “And just moving all the muscles and joints stimu- lates the brain.”

She advises practicing yoga all through one’s life, but, she says, it is beneficial even for those who begin during their advanced years. Lundeberg estimates up to 40 percent of her three hundred clients are over age 50.

For those interested in the mind-body workout of yoga, there is no shortage of studios in western Massachusetts. Among the four counties, there are more than 50 studios that teach either yoga or Pilates, a popular exercise system that also coaches breathing awareness and mental focus.

Hazel Porter, a retired psychotherapist who lives in Heath, attests to the efficacy of yoga as an essen- tial element of her own good health in old age. She has tried swimming and a succession of medications to loosen her stiff joints and aching bones. “Those things didn’t work,” says Porter, who is 80. “But yoga took care of all of those problems.”

Porter, who says she feels about 65, pays close attention to her health in several ways. She belongs to a writers group—“That’s a kind of therapy for me,” she says—and travels frequently. And importantly, she sharpens her intellect with regular participation in the Senior Symposia program, a curricular initiative within Greenfield Community College’s Community Education division that offers single-session courses for older students.

“Taking these classes keeps your mind fit,” says Porter, “learning new informa- tion by reading and talking with people. You meet people there from all over the county who are keeping their minds sharp. It’s so important to keep thinking.”

There is no great mystery to remaining vital and healthy as the years pile on. As most people past age 50 will attest, staying fit and well doesn’t become any easier

as the years progress. But even with the volumes of studies and years of theories about aging well, it boils down to the same basic set of parameters that have been repeated for at least a century: Eat lots of fruits and vegetables, exercise regularly, keep challenging the intellect, stay socially engaged and minimize vices such as smok- ing and drinking alcohol in excess.

There’s nothing complicated about aging well, says Szulborski. “I think we know everything we need to,” she says, “and it’s never too late. Get up and move, there’s nothing like oxygen in your lungs. Read a lot. Watch your diet. And stay in touch with people.”

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