Dear Kosterina Family,
Over the past few weeks, we've been diving into the research behind The Blue Zones, a project by National Geographic researcher, Dan Buettner, that reveals the secrets behind the lifestyle of centenarians (or people who live to be 100).
We're excited to continue the conversation behind "Power 9", the set of lifestyle habits that research has found to be in common between the people of the Blue Zones. At Kosterina, it's our mission to help us all live a little better every day, and develop a healthy lifestyle that's focused on longevity, rather than quick fixes - so here's to creating mini Blue Zones within our own homes!
Today we will focus on a particularly important Lifestyle Habit at Kosterina, #4: Belonging.
As human beings, it is our most natural need to belong. We are wired to crave connection, and as social creatures belonging to any sort of community, or "tribe" is how we thrive.
For those in the Blue Zones, the power of belonging had one commonality: "All but five of the 263 centenarians we interviewed belonged to a faith-based community. Denomination doesn't seem to matter. Research shows that attending faith-based services four times a month will add 4 - 14 years of life expectancy."
Religion, or faith-based communities serve an important purpose for belonging not just to a single community, but finding one's place in the world. Even more interestingly - having a spiritual connection, especially that's shared with others can help our brains become more resilient.
As our team at Kosterina reflected on the importance of belonging, we realized that to us, it doesn't necessarily need to be limited to religious communities. There are so many ways that we find belonging and a sense of togetherness, even in the world we live in today. As Brene Brown says, belonging in its most simple form, is "the innate human desire to be part of something larger than ourselves." It's that simple.
If you need some inspiration, here are some of our favorite ways to find belonging: Fitness clubs & classes like Sculpt or Peloton, book clubs, wellness hubs, and even volunteer groups. One way we're loving finding belonging lately? Our digital Kosterina community (you can join us here!).
In the name of belonging - if you enjoy our newsletter, please share it with a friend!
Peace, Love & EVOO,
Katina
