Although much has been said about later life as the golden years, few tools or helpful resources are actually on hand to deal with the emotional challenges of aging. These challenges may include coping with financial setbacks, loneliness, or family disruption as well as health issues, loss of loved ones and the need to find a positive, uplifting lifestyle. In the face of distressing news, people of all ages need ready, easily learned resources to release intense negative emotions and find creative solutions.

Second Chance at Your Dream advances over fifty specific self-care techniques for counteracting the worry and anxiety so often associated with aging. Instead, it offers an atmosphere of hope and courage for dealing with daily issues, current or past trauma and limiting beliefs about the future.

Energy psychology is a new field within therapy that reaches body, mind and spirit by working directly with the human energy system. Benefits include relief from fear and other strongly-felt constricting emotions and movement toward a hopeful sense of self-worth. Available options to address issues readily can only be considered when the clouds of depression or low motivation are lifted.

Myths about aging need to be debunked as science demonstrates new avenues for understanding oneself and creating a fulfilling life. For example, epigenetic research clearly shows how gene expression lies within the control of the conscious mind and is continuously influenced by the choices persons make. Further, neuroscience evidences the plasticity of the brain cells which respond to intention and emotional reactions. As the apertures of consciousness expand with the creative thinking put forth in Second Chance, neurons can grow and regenerate  to be a vital component of healthy aging.

Summary:

This new book gives specific guidelines for establishing a positive template for the second half of life.  Reviewers from all walks of life, especially the baby boomer generation have enjoyed its practical wisdom and sincere compassion for the challenges of later life.

With recent advances in health care, we have been given the gift of 30-50 more years. It is imperative that we find ways to use them wisely. Because most of us have extra time, we have untold opportunities for creating change within ourselves. And from there, to influence our friends, our communities, our world.

New beginnings

Our culture avoids discussing the possibility of creative and meaningful aging. Instead fear and denial are associated with the later half of life and its most discernible tasks such as job retirement, opportunities for mentoring and influencing others, coping with changes in the body, losing loved ones and facing our own mortality. Rather than a time of decline, aging is an opportunity for abundant new beginnings.

This book is about a new look at the second half of life in positive, hopeful terms by incorporating resources of your own energy system. It is the first book to apply breakthrough insights of Energy Psychology to aging. It is an invitation to join in the adventure of self-discovery while enjoying more birthdays. It debunks such myths as genetic determinism, brain cell stagnation, and involution by investigating ways to expand mental activity and optimize genetic expression. It explores ways to stay in balance, to release dysfunctional patterns, to change perceptions of difficult situations, to build a sense of hope and positive expectancy, to connect with innate creativity, to align energetically with the soul’s purpose and learn to trust intuition. Unlike thinking suggesting there is some external factor, medication, or device for treating later life’s challenges, this book explores self-care with our internal energy resources.

No pills or harmful side-effects here

Within your body resides your vital life force, the quality called Qi (pronounced “chee “) discussed in classical Chinese texts for over 5,000 years and the basis of the current practices of acupuncture and acupressure. Directing this Qi with self-care techniques from the field of Energy Psychology assists readers to resolve internal conflicts, remove blocks to creativity and empower living more fully.

Contrary to traditional thinking that associates living well with lots of activity, the full-energy life is about connecting to inner wisdom and refining the arrow of intention. This orientation is filled with joy, peacefulness, openness, curiosity, wonder, appreciation, flexibility, exploration, new viewpoints and moving “beyond the box ” of traditional thinking about aging.

Moving from longevity to “fun-gevity ” is made possible by letting go of stressful issues rapidly so there is available energy for more satisfying choices. For most issues, energetic self-care advanced in this book gives opportunities for generativity. Exercises in each chapter lead readers to finding new ways of sustaining energy levels and lightening up inwardly. The interventions offer drug-free paths for relieving anxiety, finding inner harmony and thriving in advancing years.

How the book is organized

The book is in four parts. They flow from an explanation of the personal energy system to practical applications in addressing specific issues.

Flexible and Resourceful Thinking

The first section is the introduction to a conceptual framework of personal energy for more flexible and resourceful thinking. Two chapters explore cross-cultural resources and cite studies to show how these concepts are well within the realm of current science. Epigenetic research, for example, is demonstrating the power of thought to influence emotions as well as the body’s molecular, cellular and DNA structures.

Practical Maneuvers, Useful Beliefs

The second part is directly practical. Readers learn releasing maneuvers to use whenever becoming shaken by external events. They also learn to rethink limiting beliefs and find methods of installing more desirable, useful beliefs. Celebrating the present with its unique gifts becomes possible with methods to bring life-enhancing awareness into every moment and lifting the fog of anxiety and depression.

An Artist of Life

The third section addresses numerous ways of becoming the creative artist of one’s life. Learning from a self-inventory brings focus to inner wisdom with specific steps for developing intuition. Accessing transpersonal, spiritual dimensions is another means of expanding originality. Readers learn to nurture their own inner artist with hope and protective imagery.

Dealing with Pain

The fourth part considers energetic approaches for two of life’s greatest challenges: dealing with pain and viewing death from a new perspective. The book closes by redefining personal myths and suggesting maps for the adventure of thriving while growing into maturity and wisdom.

Read excerpts online

On this web site, you can read the book’s Introduction, Table of Contents, and one full chapter.

Author’s vision

I envision a new picture of audacious aging in which engaged, passionate elders bring their collective wisdom to our imperiled world. We are the talented and essential beings who, by healing and empowering ourselves, can heal and empower others. We are the ones who bring love of humanity and the natural world to our families and communities. The second half of life is indeed the opportunity to reclaim our life’s dream!

Comments from readers so far include:

“A breakthrough book…inspiring in every chapter”
“An engaging and authoritative book”
“Dorothea is a living example of what she teaches”
“Eminently useful for understanding pain’s lessons and overcoming suffering.”

“According to Buddhism there is no personal self. If that is so, then whose arthritis is this?”

Jewish wisdom & humor

“…[H]ealing our suffering means not so much the absence of pain but the ability to meet it with love and compassion instead of blame, fear and loathing.”

Author Stephen Levine

Is pain ever useful?

As people mature chronologically, many begin to notice aches and pains in parts of the body never noticed before. Some take affront in finding the body is no longer willing or able to do what the mind wishes. Many regard physical pain as an unwelcome distraction. Still others become so obsessed with pain they live in fear of every new sensation. Conversations about body failings may dominate interactions with friends and acquaintances. Misery likes company. for sure it seems.

Physical pain is part of being human. It’s a signal when something is amiss. In the same way a smoke alarm’s beeping gives warning of household fire, pain serves as an internal feedback loop to give a message. Only people with the rare disorder of allodynia cannot feel pain. Generally they have very short lives because their essential warning mechanisms are absent.

Physical pathways of pain can be very adequately treated with present day pain management approaches. These may include specific forms of exercise, dietary changes to increase cell nourishment and decrease weight, prescription and over-the-counter medications, and even special formulas and administration routes developed by compounding pharmacies. (1) In addition, a large array of complementary modalities are available to offer holistic, integrative approaches. Current medical standards have established adequate pain management as a patient healthcare right in most states.

How we can “shrink” our lives

Like most readers, I can personally attest to the difficulty of centering, meditating, or holding a positive outlook when pain predominates. I recall the ways hip pain led me to explore numerous complementary modalities such as acupuncture, energy healing, chiropractic, somatic therapies and depth psychotherapy. I learned much and still employ concepts from these modalities. Denial of the back and hip pain kept me limping until my whole outlook on life became increasingly constricted.

It was time to try another route. In the eighth year of bone pain, I chose to get an x-ray. The physician was amazed that anyone was able to walk with such a degenerated hip. Knowing what I have learned since the replacement surgery has taught me not to put things off until my life becomes difficult. When other methods no longer help and activities start to shrink, it’s wise to seek medical assistance.

Nevertheless, I affirm the value of exploring complementary/alternative approaches first as a useful way to learn about oneself and the ways mind, body and spirit are constantly interacting. More invasive chemical or surgical interventions are available as a last resort. Unless there is a need for acute care and immediate action, such complementary approaches as acupuncture, acupressure, Qi gong, yoga, and energy-oriented therapies are a good first line of defense.

Ongoing, chronic pain can literally “shrink” one’s life. Activities become constricted, emotions fray, sleep is interrupted and insomnia curtails opportunity for restorative sleep. Estimates show “50 million Americans live with chronic pain today; it is the number one cause of adult disability.” (2) Often, over half the healthcare professionals who attend my workshops suffer from various chronic pain conditions. Unfortunately, these glum figures are accompanied by beliefs that chronic pain cannot be changed and “one has to learn to live with it.” Such limiting beliefs especially apply to the elderly who are often under-diagnosed and under-treated.

A hopeful message tells us, “When pain is treated effectively, the person’s quality of life increases and negative outcomes decrease.” (3) Multi-modal approaches which integrate adequate medication with complementary interventions, such as activating the body’s energy system, seem to work best. A dynamic formula for using the body’s natural resources and self-hypnosis to resolve chronic pain is written by colleague Maggie Phillips.(4) She emphasizes energizing ourselves rather than catastrophizing about pain, and to heal not only the body but also emotional and spiritual dimensions. Energy therapies can provide a powerful adjunct to managing and even ameliorating pain distress.

Suffering Is Optional

Suffering is qualitatively different from physical pain. Physiological pain mechanisms have been well studied and involve a number of bodily pathways: the signal or pain stimulus initiates at a certain location in the body, it travels via neurotransmitters cell-to-cell along the dorsal afferent fibers to the dorsal horn of the spinal column and finally reaches the brain to impact the pain-sensing centers. The mind can then interpret the message and engage in a number of choices. It can:

• feel the pain
• block all or part of the pain
• exaggerate the pain
• feel the pain and forget it because something else takes precedence
• distort the pain sensation
• interpret the pain signal
• focus on the pain and attach strong emotions to it

Suffering in Buddhist philosophy relates to the emotional distress of worry and anxiety generated within an individual. Fear of more pain, not the pain itself, exacerbates suffering. The distress known as suffering can be triggered by physical pain, but can also be about any thought which comes to the mind.

Examples cited earlier spoke of the distress experienced in everyday life issues ranging from impediments to living such as flat tires or balky cell phones to serious family conflicts and alienation by loved ones. Suffering occurs when one attempts to interpret events not caused by one’s actions. One may ask, “Why does this always happen to me?” Or, attack oneself, “What is the matter with me?” And concluding, “No one appreciates me…I’m losing my touch… I’m not useful any more.”

A direct path to suffering is made by attaching catastrophic meanings to a minor glitch. Every one at any age can forget names, book titles, or peripheral events, yet interpreting simple forgetting to mean your mind is failing and/or you’re losing it permanently is a common thought among older people. This creates untold suffering. Perhaps it is good to forget some things, especially trivia, when we’ve accumulated so much knowledge from living over half a century. It would be detrimental to recall every detail we ever heard!

The mind responds to unconscious commands. If one wants to retire by abdicating from lifelong learning or participation in the community, the mind find situations requiring stepping back and being passive. Negative thinking creates direct results in the form of limiting beliefs. Similarly, negative reflections about physical pain serve to increase pain’s disabling effects.
Help on the way!

As we come to distinguish the difference between physical pain and the psychological factors involved in suffering, we recognize how closely they are interrelated. Both need to be addressed to diminish distress. Remarkably, both emotional suffering and physical pain respond well to energetic interventions by inviting changes in perception and hope of relief.

Numerous research studies demonstrate relief of physical and emotional pain with energy modalities such as TT, HT, Reiki, energy medicine and energy psychology.(5, 6, 7) Some of the possible mechanisms for this effect include: 1) increased production of endorphins, the body’s natural pain relieving chemical messengers and encouraging gene expression; 2) distraction of the mind for a possible placebo effect; 3) release of blockages to balanced energy flows; 4) movement toward a “tipping point” because there’s momentum toward more comfort and positive emotion.

Tim had been diagnosed with a life-threatening immune system disorder. From that day on, Tim interpreted every small ache or distress to mean destruction of his body’s cells. All he could see was a future of degeneration, dependence on others, and death. The power of a serious diagnosis without additional information can serve as a nocebo with negative implications instead of its opposite, a placebo, a powerful mental suggestion for relief and well-being. Tim’s family insisted on second opinions, more information and complementary approaches for self-care. Grumbling and wincing, Tim agreed to their wishes and found a wealth of resources to stave off dependency and helplessness to his surprise. Of course, it took time, unending encouragement from family members and ultimately Tim’s willingness to participate in the expanded program. Years later, he is still active and talks to his diagnosis by joking “Ha! You thought you owned me, but I didn’t let you!”

It’s always best to have pain medically evaluated and receive as much information as possible. The following exercises encourage you to learn from your pain sensations and find ways of diminishing inevitable pain reliably. The exercises utilize your energy system—the breath, the meridian network via its acupoints, and the body’s “energy stations” known as the charkas.

Exercise 13.1 More life via your helping intention

1. Allow yourself to sit or lie comfortably with the breath gently expanding the diaphragm as you inhale. Make sure the exhalation is long and slow.
2. Breathe softness and warmth into the painful area. Send your caring intention to the hurting portion of the body.
3. Make a tight fist and release it slowly to a long count of 10 feeling each muscle group in your hand relax slowly.
4. Repeat several more times while continuing to send loving thoughts to the identified part of the body. Soften the colors around it.
5. Notice differences in how you feel.

Exercise 13.2 Healing affirmations anchored to the body

1. While gently rubbing, or holding the tender spot on the left side of the upper chest, state out loud “Even though I have this pain, I deeply and completely love and accept myself.”
2. If the last part of the affirmation is troublesome for you, other phrases could be used such as,”I’m learning to accept myself” or simply, “I deserve to feel better.”
3. The first part of the phrase can also be used to address underlying fears with, “Even though I fear I may never be free of this pain, I still… (complete with your chosen statement).”
4. Repeat the phrase you have selected several times until it feels comfortable and can easily be remembered. Write it down, or make a song or poem about it.

Exercise 13.3 Releasing fear of pain/Installing positive thoughts via the acupoints

1. Starting at the place where the eyebrow meets the nose, tap or touch, alternating sides, while stating, “I now choose to release my fear of more pain…this is not all of me.” (or use words with similar intent)
2. Continue tapping through the acupoint sequence given in figure 2.5. Tap each acupoint 10-15 times.
3. Complete by tapping or holding each point starting at step 1 while stating your positive goal, as in “Many forms of help, including medication and this work, are available to me.”
4. Note how you feel when you think of available help.

Exercise 13.4 Releasing fear and installing positive thoughts via the chakras

1. Starting at the crown, touch or spin with the hands in a counterclockwise fashion while stating, “I now release fear of more pain… it is not all of me.”
2. Continue downward through the 7 major chakras as described in figure 2.3 and end with an exultation.
3. Complete by moving upward from the base with a clockwise spin over each center while stating your positive goal, “I now attract the resources I need to manage this pain… Love and support surround me… I am doing my best to heal.”
4. Note how verbalizing your positive goal makes you feel.

Exercise 13.5 Tapping the thyroid meridian for relief

Another tool for relief can be found by tapping on the thyroid meridian acupoint which appears to generalize healing intention to all parts of the body. (8)

1. While sitting or lying down comfortably, gently touch the painful area and set your positive intention with a statement such as, “Relief is on its way.”
2. Use one hand to tap on the acupoint between the last 2 knuckles of the other hand (on the thyroid meridian, also known as the triple warmer and tri heater).
3. Tap gently on this acupoint 30-50 times while affirming your wish to feel better and sending kindness to the selected area. Breathe deeply and fully.
4. Note how you feel afterward.

Exercise 13.6 Moving healing hands over a painful area

In Healing Touch, clear intention through centering practices can be used to energize your hands for self-care and relief. (9)

1. With the breath allow yourself to bring in unlimited energy flow from the beauty of nature.
2. Let the warmth of this breath flow from your heart center to your hands to increase their vitality. You may also squeeze or rub the hands together to energize them. Continue until the hands feel warm and vibrant.
3. Bring the hands near the painful area of your body and gently sweep from above the area downward several times while continuing to keep the breath smooth, strong and steady.
4. Repeat several times during the day and notice any changes such as a lighter sensation in the area.

Each of the exercises are suggestions you can modify to fit your needs. They return the power to help your body to you. Some studies also propose increased efficacy of pain medication with these maneuvers. You may find the exercises a helpful addition to any medication you are using. Recalling how intention affects the body’s messaging signals, the use of subtle energies appears to activate remembered wellness in body, mind and spirit.

Better than winning a lawsuit for pain

It’s especially difficult to address pain management issues with people who are unassertive, poor and elderly. Freda had all three of these issues. As the sole caregiver for a profoundly retarded 24 year old son, she was also raising a healthy 16 year-old daughter. When I met her on referral from her social worker, Freda was awash in pain and suffered from insomnia. After a severe car accident caused by a careless driver six months earlier, Freda as overwhelmed by all aspects of her life. Because she was not yet old enough for Medicare, she exhausted her meager financial resources in attempts to get medical help for intractable neck and back pain. Freda’s physician prescribed medication which did not touch the pain and only made her sleepy. Finally, the doctor gave prescribed a cane with a misdiagnosis of “arthritis.”

My first steps in helping Freda were to establish simple things she could do such as developing pain management with over-the-counter pills. Freda had some respite from pain while saving her high potency and expensive prescriptions for nighttime sleep. We gradually added a high protein diet and moderate exercise. More important for Freda was learning to be effectively assertive in communicating with both her doctor and attorney, neither of whom showed interest in her case. Eventually, she was strong enough to fire them both and find a nurse practitioner who could prescribe an effective pain management regimen. After Freda learned how to interview for better and low-cost legal aid, she retained an attorney who was sympathetic to her cause. With these two professionals well in place, I taught Freda the pain management techniques mentioned above. She took to them immediately. “I can do something to help myself!” she exclaimed. It was as if a treasure box had been opened for her. There was still pain, but her endless suffering ceased.

Freda received an MRI after a long year of haggling with insurance companies. It showed three cracked neck vertebrae not visible on the initial X-rays. Knowing the cause of pain generated some comfort.

The lawsuit against the careless motorist when awry because he was uninsured at the time of the accident… The misdiagnosis of arthritis also worked against her. Pain perception is so subjective that many insurance companies and their hired physicians can reinterpret patients’ testimonies. Freda finally received a minimal settlement. However, she proudly told me, “That’s only money but what you gave me back was my ability to help myself. It was far better than winning a lawsuit for pain!”

Soothing self -help travels faster

James Dillard’s fascinating book cites studies showing how soothing techniques actually travel faster than pain along the neural pathways. This suggests mechanisms for decreasing or even blocking pain perception. For example, an itch or pain sensation travels at about 0.5 to 5 millimeters per second along the neurons. Massage and light touch travel approximately 15-25 millimeters per second while energy therapies working via the body’s electromagnetic signaling system travel at much faster speeds of 35-75 millimeters per second. (10)

These studies help to understand why massage and touch are so necessary in healing. They also explain how energy approaches work most quickly to reach the brain’s interpretive centers and provide relaxation and relief from the anxiety of discomfort.

Often, in working with multi-modal pain management, it is a matter of which signal gets to the brain first. In the case of severe pain, it would be prudent to take medication to give basic relief and then add the energy modalities. The guidance of competent medical care is, of course, always needed when using new techniques or attempting to change established pain management protocols.

******

To summarize, the energy approaches suggested here for pain relief are easy to learn, highly portable, and can be combined with other therapies. These may include somatic therapies such as massage and bodywork, counseling, physical therapy, and medication protocols. Energy therapies further relieve the negative emotional reactions related to painwhich include anxiety, panic and fear. Thoughts and beliefs blocking healing efforts can also be modified or revised. Quality of life can best exist when we address causes of internal suffering directly.

"In the second half of life, after your roots have gone deeply into the world, it is time to reclaim and live…your dream."

Cultural anthropologist Angeles Arrien

We are born with possibilities. As we grow, we imagine a great dream for our lives. This dream can get submerged or even derailed by the many challenges of adult life. The second half of life, usually sometime after 50, then may offer a second chance.

When we find the courage to grow emotionally and spiritually after mid-life, a great adventure opens up. A miracle happens. The fully scheduled business person begins to ease off and play more. Grandparenting or connecting with extended families offers the joys of being with young children minus the burdens of career juggling and child-rearing. Vacations and future plans begin to take shape around personal wishes rather than what is most convenient or cost-effective. The personality expands, deepens, strengthens and softens. We begin to return to our goals and ideals with renewed intention.

"I’ll never get old!"

The Greek philosopher Plato observed two great mysteries about humanity: one, no one believes they will ever grow old; and second, no one believes they will ever die. Both beliefs still remain a vast human mystery. Odds are 100 % against both immortality and not growing older. Each year we live does indeed make us older although there seems to be a good bit of denial around the idea of becoming "old." Unless you’re over 90 and very entertaining like Irving Berlin or George Burns, there does not seem to be much humor around aging either.

Few seem to enjoy the second half of life quite as fully as proposed by the media or well-meaning youngsters. The "golden years" are often tarnished by another set of demands or withdrawal from life’s challenges. Negative beliefs about aging coupled with pervasive discouragement and increasingly limited activity characterize the lives of many elders.

American culture avoids discussing the possibility of creative, positive aging. Much fear is associated with the later half of life and its four most discernible tasks:

• Retirement, toward what?
• Becoming a mentor for others, a steward of the environment, and possibly a grandparent.
• Coping with natural changes in the physical body.
• Losing loved ones and facing our own mortality.

Inherent cultural prejudices favoring youth and consumerism readily show when there is the least bit of stress. While other cultures and traditions honor elders and give them special status, the West does its best to deny the presence of elders.

My husband and I were driving up a steep hill on a snowy day. We observed someone weaving across both lanes in front of us. "Drives just like an old codger," Chuck muttered while trying to keep our own car steady in the drifting snow. When we were finally able to pass, the driver was, to our surprise, a pleasant looking thirty- something!

The ensuing discussion became part of the impetus to write this book. I started asking my friends over sixty about their thoughts, beliefs and fears. My thesaurus told me"oldness" is associated with declining: winter, senectitude, ancientry, antiquity, dotage, senility, decay, decrepitude, loneliness, debility, infirmity — all quite depressing. "Longevity" felt a bit more neutral. I tried the book idea with my friends by saying, "I’m planning to write a book on creative longevity." Some were interested but several stated something like, "I don’t want longevity…I don’t want to live long especially if I will be infirm… I just don’t want to get old!" Since there is no known way to stop the clock, I wondered how one could build an innovative lifestyle to stretch beyond cultural norms surrounding aging.

America’s largest power group

A subtle but increasingly evident shift in perceptions about aging began in 2005. This was the year the large demographic bulge known as the "baby boomers," those born in the American population surge after 1945 at the end of WW II, turned 60. Advertising began to show successful seniors generating glamorous lifestyles with all the trimmings of the consumer society –gorgeous homes, fine cars, good face creams and fashionable clothes. At a deeper level, it was becoming less politically correct to deride someone older than oneself or to let prejudices toward the elderly show.

But how many people really look forward to the thirty or fifty years of life’s second half that recent advances in medical have given them ? How many shy away from telling their age for fear they’ll be marginalized? How many are surprised, even irritated, to receive notice they’ve reached 50 making them eligible for AARP? Friends confess they avoid reading AARP’s publications or throw them away. Unfortunately, they also deny the existence of the largest potential power group in America. Accepting aging in the second half of life requires acknowledging our nation’s demographic reality with its gifts and challenges. More than that, it requires a careful look at ourselves to increase self-care and embrace our life’s dream.

AARP is 50 in 2008 as well as celebrities such as Caroline Kennedy, Madonna, Michelle Pfeiffer, Prince and Jamie Lee Curtis. Many offer insights and wisdom to inspire creative elder lifestyles. In an interview, Jamie Lee muses, "Getting older means paring yourself down to an essential version of yourself." In her fun-loving way, she enacts this symbolically by wearing outfit bright ribbon trappings symbolic of her fetters and defenses over her black outfit. Then she sheds them one by one, peeling away the layers until only her essence is left. (1)

Notions of aging are changing. Ten years ago, AARP dropped its original name of American Association of Retired People in favor of just the initials because so many elders actively work, consult, and volunteer in the second half of life. The organization’s mission remains, "To enhance the quality of life for everyone — those already in the second half of life and those headed there." (2)

We have been given the gift of time. It is imperative that we find ways to use it wisely. In 2008, 30% of the population is over 50, life expectancy averages 85.2 years, and AARP has 39 million members. Over 35% of American voters in 2004 were over 55 years old pointing to huge potential power held by the nation’s mature citizens. (3)

Clearly, it’s time for us to look at our lives in positive, hopeful terms. Humankind has an incredible ability to invent new patterns of thinking when they are needed. The creative mind knows how to give birth to new forms. Imagine with me the second half of your life as the most productive, prolific, fertile, original, and imaginative part of your existence. Share the excitement of modulating accepted, limiting thought patterns into images of joy, peace and satisfaction. Because most of us have extra time, we have untold opportunities for creating change within ourselves. And from there, to influence our friends, our communities, our world.

From longevitiy to "fun-gevity"

My personal journey toward the magical time of "threescore and ten" abounds with adventures, opportunities, losses and many lessons. While raising four teenage children I settled into a psychotherapist’s career and directed a large group of colleagues. Several years later I married the brave man who is my present husband. The dream of quiet midlife bliss was shattered one month after the wedding by the tragic death of my football hero oldest son.

These events dramatically shaped the second half of my life. I started asking questions. What did I need to learn? What gift lay in the juxtaposition of these dramatic events? Why was my son’s bounding energy still so strong? I wanted to learn about energetic connections with loved ones beyond the seeming wall of physical death. I recalled how awareness of human energies often had helped me in times of peril. While living in Berlin after the disastrous end of WW II, I sensed light and color around people who were best able to help me after my mother’s death when I was 5. I also learned to gently pass my hands over sick birds to speed their recovery. Later, I chose nursing and planned to use my hands and heart to help those in need as Florence Nightingale seemed to have done. I was somewhat ahead of my time since, until 1970, nursing did not formally acknowledge the possibility of helping patients via the human energy system. But I was in the right profession to learn more about energetic interventions and to blend them with practice as a counseling psychologist later.

Leadership positions with the American Holistic Nurses Association (1981 to 1990) led me to assist in organizing Healing Touch, a program for teaching energy modalities to healthcare professionals. This led to writing several books about the interface between energy concepts and counseling therapies. I became a teacher of counselors and co-founded the Association for Comprehensive Energy Psychology (ACEP). Many conferences and travel adventures followed.

At the peak of my professional career as a psychologist and president of ACEP, my husband and I decided we would like to retire to a peaceful, remote part of Oregon. Like many people who retire, we guessed at what we might like rather than really knowing what we wanted. It seemed a good idea to slow down and engage in less stressful activities. My walking had diminished to very short forays around the house because of a hip problem. I began learning about senior centers, yoga, painting groups and started doing some of the things for which I never had time before.

Then, two years ago, I found renewed vitality after receiving a hip replacement. Despite my affection for complementary healing modalities, I deeply appreciate Western medicine’s fabulous gift of new mobility. Not only can I walk with ease, but my life has expanded emotionally. With the help of energy exercises continually developing within ACEP, I gained strength to envision an active and creative longevity. This new phase of life is now "fun-gevity" time.

Retirement of withdrawal into quiet seclusion is no longer an option: the dream of a meaningful second half of life calls out. My husband and I celebrated our lives by moving to a vital community on Washington’s Olympic peninsula. Also, I feel called to empower my seven grandchildren. I want to help address major issues of their lives such as global uncertainty and environmental destruction. They deserve a vital elder who has time and patience to participate in needed social changes needed in our collective consciousness.

I envision a new picture of "audacious aging" (4) in which engaged, passionate elders bring their collective wisdom to our imperiled world. We are the talented and essential beings who, by healing and empowering ourselves, can heal and empower others. We are the ones who bring love of humanity and the natural world to our families and communities. The second half of life is indeed the opportunity to reclaim our life’s dream!

No pills or harmful side-effects here

This book is an invitation to join in the adventure of self-discovery while adding on more birthdays. We’ll explore ways to stay in balance, to release dysfunctional patterns, to change perceptions of difficult situations, to build a sense of hope and positive expectancy, to connect with innate creativity, to align energetically with the soul’s purpose and learn to trust intuition. Unlike thinking suggesting there is some external factor, medication, or device for treating life’s challenges, we’ll explore the resources which are innately yours and readily available.

Within your body resides your vital life force, the quality called Qi (pronounced "chee") discussed in classical Chinese texts for over 5,000 years and the basis of the current practices of acupuncture and acupressure. Directing this Qi, with emotional acupressure via meridian acupoints (no needles!) can assist you in your daily life to resolve internal conflicts, remove blocks to creativity and empower you to live fully.

Contrary to traditional thinking that associates living well with lots of activity, the full-energy life is about connecting to inner wisdom and refining the arrow of intention. This orientation is filled with joy, peacefulness, openness, curiosity, wonder, appreciation, flexibility, exploration, new viewpoints and moving "beyond the box" of traditional thinking about aging.

Fun-gevity is made possible by letting go of stressful issues rapidly so there is available energy for more satisfying choices. For most day-to-day issues, the principles of energetic self-care advanced in this book will give excellent opportunities for refocusing. Care of more deep-seated issues may include seeking outside assistance ideally from a practitioner who is oriented to energy psychology approaches (resources listed in backmatter). Exercises in each chapter will lead you to finding new ways of sustaining energy levels and lightening up inwardly. Energy related interventions offer drug-free paths for relieving anxiety, finding inner harmony and thriving in advancing years.

The book is in four parts. They flow from an explanation of the personal energy system to practical applications in addressing specific issues. The first section is your introduction to a conceptual framework of personal energy for becoming more flexible and resourceful. We’ll explore cross-cultural resources and cite studies supporting ideas of healing to show how these concepts are well within the realm of current scientific knowledge. Epigenetic research, for example, is demonstrating the power of thought to influence emotions as well as the body’s cellular and DNA structures.

The second part is directly practical. We’ll learn releasing maneuvers to use whenever becoming shaken by external events. Transforming difficult issues allows more energy for innovative thinking. We’ll also rethink beliefs that are no longer functional and find methods of installing more desirable, useful beliefs. Celebrating the present with its unique gifts becomes possible as we learn methods to bring life-enhancing awareness into every moment.

The third section addresses numerous ways of establishing yourself as the creative artist of your life. Learning from a self-inventory brings focus to inner wisdom with specific steps for developing intuition as a resource for creativity. Accessing transpersonal, spiritual dimensions is another means of expanding originality and you’ll learn to nurture your own inner artist with hope and protective imagery.

The fourth part considers energetic approaches for two of life’s greatest challenges: dealing with pain and viewing death from a new perspective. The book closes by redefining personal myths and integrating seemingly dissimilar aspects of our lives into a dancing, dynamic whole.

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I invite you to imagine and rehearse the life you really want and to enliven your dream goals. I encourage you to develop your own version of creative fun-gevity by employing the suggestions in these chapters. May the journey be richer and more fulfilling than you ever expected!

Introduction

"I’ll never get old!"
America’s largest power group
From longevity to "fun-gevity"
No pills or harmful side-effects here

Part I. Energy for a Fulfilling Life

Ch. 1. The river wants to flow!

"Out of kilter" for a while or longer
Other blocks to energy flow
Brief life review
Ch. 2. Gifts of the human energy system (Figures 2.1-2.5)

A short history of healing traditions
The biofield and the charkas
The meridians and related acupoints
Comprehensive energy therapies
Ch. 3. What science knows about subtle energy

Vibrational medicine
Quantum interrelationships
The genius of your genes
Research confirmations

Part II. Applications of Energy Concepts in Daily Life

Ch. 4. Making sure your system is "on"

Choosing well-being or acedia
Treating effects of bad news
Ch. 5. Revising belief habit trails

Limiting mindsets…who,me?
Dumping limiting mindsets
Out-of-date patterns traded in for new thoughts
Belief changing strategies
Ch. 6. Transforming the energetic imprint of daily grit

Intrapersonal traits for happiness
Releasing distress
Sparking curiosity and imbedding personal power

Ch. 7. Celebrate the present!

Mindfulness in daily tasks
Beauty in a flower
Experiencing the grace of a moment
Tolerating dualities

Part III. The Relation of personal creativity to well-being

Ch. 8. Gardening in the desert: developing personal creativity

See what you can do!
Impediments to personal creativity
Traits of creative people
Creativity self-inventory

Ch. 9. Inner artists at risk

Protecting delicate plants in asphalt
Daily renewal
Holding beginner’s mind
Developing flexibility in relationships

Ch. 10. Harvesting inner wisdom

Learning to trust positive intention
by writing…talking well to yourself……attending to feedback…noticing dream themes…creating beauty
Ch. 11. The divine spark within

Be careful about your beliefs
Hug trees often
Gratitude—the gift that keep on giving
Connections with higher Self
Ch.12. Trusting in the resilience of hope

Keeping hope alive
Turning pottery cracks into beauty
Opening to full potential

Part IV. Energy resources for special needs

Ch.13. A new look at pain

Is pain ever useful?
Suffering is optional
Help on the way!
Soothing self-care travels faster
Ch. 14. Fully conscious endings

The ghastly scenario
Comforting "little deaths"
Ask for what you want
Explore the mystery
Energy resources to the rescue!
Ch. 15. Keep on evolving!

No longer content to sleepwalk through life
Maps for the journey
Eldership as a revolutionary endeavor
Measures of success

Back Matter

Glossary of unusual energy-related terms for quick reference

Chapter notes — with references for quotes and annotated discussion of resource materials

Suggested Bibliography for further reading

Organizational Resources

Index