The Match Era

“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 growing old and highlights the benefits of sustaining a wholesome, energetic life-style 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 similar to 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 will not be a barrier to health and will encourage you to pursue an energetic life-style and discover pleasure in your life. Additional, the documentary demonstrates how making daring decisions that carry 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Think about being a full-time ski teacher at 82 years outdated.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 among the fundamental 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 forward to time to go,” in response to 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 awesome motivation to maintain going … I discover it laborious to consider, however technically my snowboarding remains to be getting higher. I’ve had folks say to me, ‘Oh, you are too outdated to try this.’ I am not loopy, I do not go off huge jumps and stuff like that, however I ski fairly quick.

I’ve had stitches in my head from skis hitting me on the top, I’ve dislocated a shoulder and I’ve had two tibial osteotomies as a result of my knees had 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 consider that the extra energetic I keep, the much less impact it will have on me.”

Others featured within the movie embody 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 also 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 staff — 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 file marathon runner, retired trainer and most cancers survivor continued to compete in races, regardless of accidents:⁶

“There’s a number of folks on the market who will enable you and there are definitely a number of operating teams which you could be a part of, so if you wish to get on the market and do one thing, you may, however you must need to, as a result of nobody can push you into doing something … My breast most cancers made me very, very constructive.

On daily basis I get up now I am grateful as a result of when you’ve 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 in the present day is and overlook it and begin a brand new day tomorrow. I am 100, no less than 100, and I need 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 Widespread Threads

Whereas every of the folks featured within the movie have totally 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 robust social connections of their communities and interact in every day with a way of objective, 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 full of pleasure and keenness. This pleasure is deeply related to their bodily actions and the robust sense of group they construct by way of shared experiences and social interactions.

Ava Stone, a yoga teacher in her 70s, says, “To me, it is the largest pleasure to place myself in a spot the place I may give one thing to others.” She makes use of class time to show not solely respiration and stretching strategies but additionally 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 simply created. We blame stress outdoors ourselves as if it is brought on by some mysterious others. In a nutshell, are you aware what stress is? This current second that you simply’re having, you do not prefer it. You need to eliminate one thing you don’t need otherwise you need one thing you do not have.

You then inform your folks, pay attention, I had such a stress, you can not consider it, what the husband and the youngsters did. Oh, at work … And but, you retain creating it … Resisting life because it exhibits as much as you is your stress. This consciousness has purchased me a lot pleasure and it got here from yoga, and when you have any smartness you recognize that the thoughts will assist maintain you wholesome. Open your eyes, develop into conscious of the world.

This world right here is completely superb, is not it? The opposite pleasure is that these folks which were coming to see me all these years, they get it, they usually maintain coming again they usually need me to speak and need to have enjoyable and loopy stuff. So, these individuals 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’ve got the peacefulness, you’ve joyfulness.

From this pleasure and peacefulness, you have come to pure information to say if I am sad, I am creating it, completely. The ego is one thing you create from day one, needing to be necessary and being proper. Whenever you let that go, it does not matter. And you then develop into peaceable, however you must observe, really feel it, go it on, and you may solely have enjoyable for those who do not assume significantly. If folks assume the whole lot is so severe, the place is the enjoyable?”

Optimizing Mitochondrial Operate Facilitates Life Decisions That Convey Pleasure

At a foundational degree, pleasure comes from curiosity and the flexibility to make decisions in your life. However for those who don’t have sufficient mobile vitality, you may’t assume correctly, not to mention have sufficient vitality left over to navigate constructive life decisions. That is why bettering your mitochondrial vitality manufacturing can carry 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 vitality utilized by your total physique.⁸ Due to this fact, a surplus of mobile vitality creation is important to have the flexibility 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 operate and realizing your full capability to expertise pleasure. Components like estrogen and endotoxins also can deplete your mobile vitality.

Nevertheless, partaking in common bodily exercise can be a robust approach to improve mitochondrial well being, contributing to improved vitality metabolism. Train encourages the creation of latest mitochondria and helps the prevailing ones work higher, producing extra vitality extra effectively.

Understand that 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 revealed a research 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 one way or the other gone flawed. However then he realized it was the social points 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 along with your canine or your pal or [playing] pickleball is big … 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 mixture 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. It is a idea these featured within the movie additionally appear to totally embrace, by partaking in day by day actions they get pleasure from and look ahead to every day.

Pleasure and well being share a deep and complex connection, and people within the movie get pleasure from each. They don’t dwell on hardships or loss, as a substitute selecting to deal with the great round them. This capability to acknowledge and alter damaging thought patterns is one other key to foster a extra joyful mindset.

As a substitute of catastrophizing and specializing in the damaging, 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 individuals are older and lonely, there’s a number of issues for outdated folks. They’ve to speak to a pal, 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 tooth or sure belongings you do, and you then begin having fun with it. There isn’t any pleasure out on the earth, solely what you set there.”