You have written two books and developed a concept you call Longebility. Can you explain the path that led you to promote this concept of yours? What is the motivation that sets you in motion in this regard?
I worked for Swisslife for over 35 years and met thousands of clients who wanted to save money to feel secure when they retired. Often I noticed that what they really had to worry about was their health and motivation in life.
I became so passionate about the subject of physical, emotional, mental and spiritual well-being in the second half of life.
The problem is big and urgent.
The increase in the number of elderly and old people (whom I call seniors and super seniors in my system) obliges us to find solutions to avoid dealing with millions of sad, sick, unmotivated seniors, etc., etc.
We have to make sure that seniors and super seniors are an asset to society and not a burden to bear.
That is why I founded Longebility, which promotes ideas, strategies and methods for ageing well, healthy, wise and happy.
We are in a constant state of change, where life expectancy is getting longer. What approach do you propose in relation to this issue?
Human beings have the potential to live up to 120 years.
The average life expectancy in Switzerland today is 84 years. However, life expectancy in health stops at 64 years.
If you do the math, the average Swiss leaves about 56 years of healthy life on the plate.
This is madness, it is an incredible waste!
However, we cannot expect pharmaceutical companies or the healthcare system to come up with solutions for a long healthy and happy life.
The pharmaceutical companies and the health care system have strong interests in keeping people alive, sick, sad and needy, as long as possible.
I know it sounds like conspiracy stuff, but did you know that in Switzerland only 3 per cent of all resources are invested in health promotion and as much as 97 per cent in cures and medicines?
With Longebility, which means the ability to live long, healthy and happy lives, my approach is to let people over 50 take charge of their lives without delegating their psycho-physical well-being to anyone.
There is so much to say and do and that is why I offer courses, video courses, coaching and write books on this topic.
We can see from your social media that you are often around the world. You are currently in Thailand in Kho Phan-Gan. You told me that you have been spending time there for several years. What do you find there that you don’t find elsewhere?
On this island I find a favorable environment for health and evolution. Here there is a conscious community. Here people do not splurge and stuff themselves with food in starred restaurants. Here there is a very simple life of scooters, flip-flops, t-shirts, fruit and vegetable juices, local foods, yoga schools, meditation, Tantra, etc, etc.
Whereas here in Europe social comparison is based on externality (having), here it is much more based on being.
Of course not all that glitters is gold here either, but the incentive to live on the basis of personal values and not on values packaged ad hoc by society is much stronger. Here one meets many healthy, wise and happy seniors and super seniors.
What are future plans, for you and for others, and what motivates you to realise them?
For the future, my plans are above all my personal evolution and sharing with others. I deeply believe that everyone is here on planet earth to contribute and not just to consume oxygen, eat and litter. On the contrary, I strongly believe, and there is also a lot of scientific evidence to prove it, that as long as people contribute to the evolution of the whole they feel part of the community, they have a role and therefore have motivation to stay fit.
That is why my motto is that longevity starts in the mind.
What spurs me on to realise my projects is the fact that without motivation and without meaning you are immediately old, not to say already dead.
It is therefore crucial to find the reason why the creator put us on earth and to do what is meant to be done.
A bee is happy when he is being a bee, when he goes from flower to flower collecting pollen.
When is a human being happy?
What I try to do for others is to address these questions and help find answers.
You call yourself a spiritual person. What does being spiritual mean to you?
Human beings are only able to see a very small part of the electromagnetic spectrum. To use a metaphor, we are like a fish swimming in the sea without realising that it is inside water, which in turn is inside a ball suspended inside the solar system, which in turn is part of a galaxy, and so on.
For the sake of convenience, religions have packaged up interesting theories and offered them as truth to millions.
What is there for all to see is that religions separate and generate conflict.
Spirituality, on the other hand, is something that is upstream of everything, that unites everything and explains everything.
Being spiritual to me means being a fish that tries to understand the universe around it without stopping at the appearances of the material world.
Have you been practising yoga for a long time? What benefits has this practice given you?
Yoga is an age-old discipline that teaches how to be a fish that understands why it is where it is and what it can do to evolve and become aware of all that exists in the universe.
Many believe that yoga is just a kind of gymnastics to be a little more flexible and a little healthier, but it is not that simple. Yoga is a true path to spiritual evolution.
The benefits are both on a physical and mental level and especially for those who, like me, want to support others to become long-lived and happy is exactly what yoga teaches.
Unfortunately, a tragic event occurred to you at a young age. From your current point of view, how would you describe the path that led you from that moment to where you are today?
It is said that difficult times create strong men. That strong men create easy times and that easy times create weak men. Weak men create difficult times again. And so on!
Yes, in my youth I had difficult moments that made me strong.
So I thank those moments and all the people who made themselves available to generate them.
The dominant feeling in me is indeed gratitude.
Every person’s life is studded with good things and difficult things, then it is up to each person, according to his or her level of consciousness, to select what to do with the experiences he or she has had.
In my yoga school we say that he who turns difficulties into opportunities has good karma!
How would you describe to a child the difference between being and having?
I would tell him to imagine that he is holding Aladdin’s lamp that can grant every wish. I would ask him what he wants to have? I would show him that after a while the fact of being able to have everything one wants no longer brings any pleasure, in fact it poisons.
I would tell him that he thinks he can have one ice cream, two ice creams, a hundred ice creams, a thousand ice creams, etc, etc!
Would you be happier with a thousand ice creams?
I would then explain to him that true joy comes from having ice cream and being able to appreciate it.
I would explain to him that life is like an ice cream that has to be licked slowly, slowly, appreciated and that it has to be done within a certain time frame otherwise it melts!
Longebility Antivirus: You are launching a new product: would you like to talk about it?
Yes, thank you Danilo.
On 23 February I am launching an introductory video course explaining what are the main MENTAL VIRUSES that make people over 50 unhappy. As you know, each of us makes choices based on what we believe we are, on the mental image we have of ourselves. It is a bit like each of us walking around with a photograph of ourselves that we want to show to others. Each of us makes decisions to try to be consistent with the image on his photograph.
Each of us has learnt about life from our parents, school, church and our social context. Certainly he has learnt a lot of good things, but also a lot of bad things. So many mental viruses that generate difficulties and frustrations in so many areas of life (family, money, love, sex, work, friendship, etc.).
Longebility Antivirus and its related bonuses is an important step to recognise and eliminate many mental viruses that prevent healthy, happy and long-lived living.
Interested persons can sign up on the list to access the launch offer and get special conditions and an extra bonus for free.
Here is the link to access and sign up on the list: LONGEBILITY ANTIVIRUS