How to age backward.

If you’ve ever driven a car, you may have noticed that the vehicle always steers in the direction you are looking. When you gaze left, the car drifts left. You are probably not consciously trying to move the car into the left lane, it just follows the direction your mind is focused on. The human psyche is a powerful force that helps us craft the experiences we seek to have.

In fact, our subconscious is so influential that it has the ability to alter our physical attributes and abilities. These findings are prevalent in numerous studies but, in my opinion, one of the most fascinating applications of this theory comes from an experiment conducted in 1979 called the counterclockwise study. In essence, the study sought to answer one question: If you psychologically decide to feel younger, will your body play along?

In the late 70’s, Harvard psychologist Ellen Langer set out to determine if age was just a mindset. Her theory was that some of the symptoms associated with old age (strength, posture, memory, hearing, vision, etc.) could be aided or even reversed using psychological intervention alone. Langer is steadfast in her opinion that our physical limitations as humans are largely determined by what we think we are capable of doing rather than what we can actually do.

Langer and her team recruited men over the age of 75 to participate in an experiment. The…