If your aim is to be lively and robust in your 80s and 90s, you'll need to learn some anti-aging secrets that focus on the mind, body and spirit. You are an integrated model -- there are many aspects of a healthy life that rely on each other. Anecdotal information and science have both shown this to be true [source: Luskin]. Crush the spirit and the body will follow. Stimulate the mind and your mood will lighten. Exercise the body and your mind will be sharper. In many ways, these anti-aging tips are interdependent.

It is true that one of the biggest keys to a long and healthy life is choosing your parents wisely. That, of course, isn't truly a choice, but an acknowledgment of the enormous role that heredity plays in health. But you're not a slave to your family's past. New research shows that the brain has an amazing amount of plasticity [source: Doidge]. Impending health conditions can be planned for and bypassed (sometimes literally). Even mood and perspective can be relearned and practiced for stress-avoidance. What does stress avoidance have to do with it? Basically, it enhances cognitive ability -- that is, it keeps your brain sharp [source: Judge and Barish-Wreden]. But more on that later.



You can play a role in the length and quality of your life. You just have to learn how -- and take action. On the following pages, discover 10 techniques for maintaining your youth and health as you age.