A Mindset Shift on Aging
“You have power over your mind, not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength.”
-Marcus Aurelius
Ellen Langer is a Harvard psychologist and author known for pioneering research in the field of mindfulness: the practice of focusing deliberately on thoughts, feelings, body sensations, and surroundings in the present moment without judgment. Her pioneering work challenges conventional beliefs about aging, emphasizing the connection between our mindset, choices, and overall well-being. Here are two of her remarkable studies from the 1970s:
Experiment 1: The Nursing Home Study
Langer and her colleague conducted a mindfulness experiment in a nursing home in the 1970s. The intention of the experiment was to make the residents more mindful, help them engage with the world and live more fully.
Group 1: These residents were encouraged to find ways to make more decisions for themselves, such as choosing when to receive visitors and caring for a houseplant that was provided for the experiment. They had the freedom to decide where to place the plant and how much water to give it.
Group 2 (Control Group): Residents in this group were also given houseplants but they were told that the nursing staff would take care of them.
A year and a half later, the residents in Group 1 were more cheerful, active, and alert than they were before the experiment. And surprisingly, less than half as many of the first group had passed away than had those in the control group! This study demonstrated the impact of making choices and the influence on physical well-being.
Experiment 2: The Counterclockwise Study
In 1979, Langer decided to test the limits of this change-the-mind-change-the-body theory. This study later became known as the “counterclockwise study” as it aimed to see if turning the clock back psychologically would turn the clock back physiologically. Participants, men in their late seventies to early eighties, were invited to a retreat that replicated a 1959 setting:
Group 1: These participants could not bring any photos, books, newspapers, or magazines that were printed after 1959. They wrote brief autobiographies in the present tense as if it were 1959 and engaged in activities as if it were that year.
Group 2 (Control Group): This group had a similar retreat but discussed 1959 in the past tense, using current day photos and bios written in the past tense.
Before the experiment, all the participants were assessed to measure weight, dexterity, flexibility, eyesight, sensitivity to taste, intelligence. They completed psychological self-evaluations. At the end of the experiment, both groups showed hearing and memory improvements. They gained an average of 3 pounds and increased grip strength. Group 1 showed greater improvement in flexibility and dexterity and on intelligence tests. Their height, weight, gait, and posture also improved.
People unaware of the purpose of the study judged the before and after photographs of Group 1 and believed all participants looked noticeably younger after the experiment!
Langer compiled her research in Counterclockwise: Mindful Health and the Power of Possibility. In this book, she encourages us to adopt mindfulness in our thinking, speaking, and beliefs about health. Changing our mindset can lead to transformative changes in our bodies and overall well-being.
What’s your mindset on aging?