Younger Next Year

• April 28, 2017

If you’re anything like me, this title will grab your attention. I bought the book a few years after it was first published in 2004. It planted seeds that took several years to germinate, and then grow, with dramatic results.

Like you, I was skeptical of the promise in the title. Younger next year?

Which year? Every year? Really?

Today, I know firsthand that the science shared by Henry Lodge, M.D. and his patient Chris Cowley almost two decades ago is profoundly true. I have lived the transformation. Using this science, and more (as captured in my own book BodyWHealth: Journey to Abundance), I systematically turned back my aging clock by about 10 years. If you want to understand my math and my own method, you’ll have to read the book.

The rather catchy subtitle, probably carefully selected by smart publishers and editors for its public appeal, is “Live Strong, Fit, and Sexy—Until You’re 80 and Beyond”. In my opinion, the authors deliver handsomely on this provocative, intriguing offer.

The central voice in the book belongs to the congenial Cowley, a hard-living, go-getting, adventure-loving attorney. He starts out by introducing the modern dilemma … wanting to do it all but running out of biology. Cowley works through a wide range of modern vices, from marriage failure, to work meltdowns, to obesity and heart disease. His friend and accomplished personal physician Harry Lodge intervenes in a calm, measured voice with scientific explanations for our predicament, and a succinct, logical prescription for health and happiness.

I was sold on their proposition early on. Dr Harry sets the scene for his thesis on the planes of my native Africa. In a section under the header “Springtime on the Savannah”, he outlines the powerful role that exercise plays throughout nature in triggering regeneration and growth. Of course, this becomes the foundation of his prescription for health.

The enduring message I took from this entertaining and enlightening book remains a key component of my own teaching today:

Decay is optional

Yes, we choose whether to enjoy the fruits of our natural heritage, or not. You choose, every day, whether to struggle in the marshes and ditches of degeneration and decay, or to walk the highway to Abundance.

Have fun,

Roddy