a2a - the art 2 aging

Take 2 minutes - less, even - and follow along with James Adams in another of his popular Meditation Minutes, here on The Art 2 Aging. Become still. Become calm… This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theart2aging.substack.com/subscribe

Happiness.We talk about it often on The Art 2 Aging for a number of pretty obvious reasons.First, life is a lot easier and more fun when we’re happy, especially as we grow older.Second, happiness doesn’t fall from the heavens. We have to create it within ourselves. Especially as we grow older.And third, creating our own happiness can be difficult. It doesn’t come easily in the 21st century.That’s why this week’s guest is unique. Dana Hilmer is a trained positive psychologist, executive coach and mentor.She’s the founder of Wiser and Free, designed to help people live lives with happiness, purpose, and freedom.But she’s way more than that.She’s one of those rare human beings who walks her talk. Even when it’s painful to do so.What makes this interview so special is how Dana shares honestly and openly her own issues and how she still manages to create happiness in her daily existence.I will guarantee that you cannot help but be moved by her words.Here is a link to Dana’s free workbook with content and resources to help anyone become happier.If you are enjoying the content here on The Art 2 Aging, we would love you to become a paid subscriber. You get access to our entire archive of content along with our mid-week features like POV (Point of View) and Body and Soul. It really helps us to continue to generate meaningful information for older adults. Thank you! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theart2aging.substack.com/subscribe

We all want to control our lives. We want to know in advance what’s going to happen if we go through Door #1, 2, or 3.We want to know ahead of time if we should take that job despite a longer commute and more pressure.We want to know before we dive in whether to marry that person or not - especially if it’s not our first marriage rodeo.Wayne Lehrer, our resident sage at Body and Soul, offers his thoughts this week, in his latest Fortune Cookie.Enjoy… This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theart2aging.substack.com/subscribe

This episode first aired in 2024. We are recreating it as an Encore Experience.So, you’re 53 years old and you get fired without warning. What do you do? Well, if you’re Gail Mercer-Mackay, you don’t panic. You go to Arizona to play golf for two weeks and do some serious journaling as well.What Gail discovered (besides still having a slice) was that she wanted to be a writer. Long story short, she did become a writer and founded a content creation company in the process.Today, the company routinely earns revenue in the millions and at the age of 69, Gail is still going strong. Hear her story this week on The Art 2 Aging.If you are enjoying the content here on The Art 2 Aging, we would love you to become a paid subscriber. You get access to our entire archive of content along with our mid-week features like POV (Point of View) and Body and Soul. It really helps us to continue to generate meaningful information for older adults. Thank you! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theart2aging.substack.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit theart2aging.substack.comThe Art 2 Aging is thrilled that happiness expert, Kathie Donovan, is joining our Body and Soul content series.Kathie walks her talk. So when she talks about getting happy and staying happy, she’s talking from her soul. She’s living it. She’s being it.And her approach to becoming happy, is simple and clear. Like happiness itself!For our paid subscribers

Older adults continue to have a tough time getting their resumes in front of employers.There’s this thing called AI that has become yet another obstacle for those older folks who are trying to return to the workplace – either out of need or the simple desire to remain productive.Heap AI on top of ageism and you have a formidable barrier to overcome.Well, if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em, as the old saw goes.Paul Chaney is 70 years old and he is a solo entrepreneur. He uses AI every day and is making a very nice living for himself as a content creator.His views on AI, how companies should be using it and how those of us who are older can leverage it are enlightening and offer hope.Paul is our guest this week on The Art 2 Aging and our conversation kicks off a series of discussions with others about AI in future episodes.If you are enjoying the content here on The Art 2 Aging, we would love you to become a paid subscriber. You get access to our entire archive of content along with our mid-week features like POV (Point of View) and Body and Soul. It really helps us to continue to generate meaningful information for older adults. Thank you! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theart2aging.substack.com/subscribe

When we think about marketing or its close cousin, advertising, we often think Madison Avenue in New York and the famous TV series, Mad Men, about the men and women who populated the early days of mass marketing and advertising.That series had liberal doses of sexism in each episode along with heavy smoking and drinking, all of which was perfectly accepted and tolerated back then.What it didn’t have was any reference or after thought to ageism. It was a time in America when the vast majority were still young and becoming upwardly mobile.But, as populations began to age, marketers often failed to realize the golden opportunity in front of them.And, in many ways, they still fail to realize it.This week on The Art 2 Aging, I talk with veteran marketer and product innovator, Costas Papaikonomou to get his thoughts on where marketing is right now and where it could be heading in a world of older consumers.Costas ran his own agency, Happen Group, which was acquired by Accenture in 2019, and his clients ranked among the biggest consumer goods companies in the world. That makes his insights noteworthy.If you are enjoying the content here on The Art 2 Aging, we would love you to become a paid subscriber. It really helps us to continue to generate meaningful information for older adults. Thank you! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theart2aging.substack.com/subscribe

In the Gospel of Matthew, we find this statement: “Love thy neighbor as thyself.”For many of us older adults, we have been carrying resentments big and small for a long time and the notion of loving those around us can be a tall order at times.Wayne Lehrer, author of The Art of Conscious Aging, recommends what he calls a reconciliation - a balancing of the scales through which we first forgive ourselves before we can truly love ourselves, and only then do we have the capacity to fully love those around us. This is the first of Wayne’s Fortune Cookies, as he calls them, for Body and Soul on The Art 2 Aging. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theart2aging.substack.com/subscribe

If you are an older adult over 55, there is a good chance you wake up on a Monday morning with aching knees after an active weekend.Not unusual at all. Fully 25% of adults over 55 have chronic knee pain and if you’re over 75, that percentage rises to 50%.More and more of us older adults want to remain fit so we might engage in strenuous sports with gusto.Only to pay the price the following morning.So do you grab the Tylenol and down a couple with your coffee?Or do you reach for a new device called Knee Mo (thekneemo.com)?Well, after you listen to this week’s interview on The Art 2 Aging with one of the creators of Knee Mo, Jenny Hledik, PhD, you might never need Tylenol again!If you are enjoying the content here on The Art 2 Aging, we would love you to become a paid subscriber. It really helps us to continue to generate meaningful information for older adults. Thanks very much! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theart2aging.substack.com/subscribe

This is the first of a new content stream on The Art 2 Aging, called Body and Soul. Why? Because it’s time we all paid far more attention to our physical and spiritual selves.James Adams, an instructor in meditation and breathing, will be offering you simple, short meditations on a regular basis.Janine Agoglia, a yoga instructor, will also be creating yoga content just for us so watch for her yoga content coming soon!And Wayne Lehrer, author and speaker, will contribute inspiring messages designed to help us find our center in a chaotic world.Enjoy and be enlightened… This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theart2aging.substack.com/subscribe

There is one thing that we humans everywhere have in common.We all dream.We daydream; we let our thoughts wander off without attempting to control them.We dream at night when we sleep. Often, we don’t remember our dreams. Sometimes we don’t even realize that we have even dreamt at all.But, one way or the other, we all dream.Our guest this week on The Art 2 Aging is Robert Waggoner, author of the best selling book, Lucid Dreaming – Gateway to the Inner Self and his follow-up book, Lucid Dreaming, Plain and Simple.Robert explains what lucid dreaming is and offers advice on how to trigger lucid dreams when we sleep.But the real magic of lucid dreaming is what those dreams can tell us about ourselves, especially as we age.It’s a remarkable conversation. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theart2aging.substack.com/subscribe

Let’s say you have retired – willingly or unwillingly – and you now find yourself with a lot of time on your hands that you never had when you were working and raising a family.After the initial feeling of “being on holiday” has passed, you feel like the days start dragging by, each day the same as the next, your life becoming unstructured and without direction.This is not unusual for those older adults who stop what they have been doing for years.The sense of self vanishes and you begin to struggle with who you now are.But all the sudden extra time can have a silver lining if you are prepared to do what we might call inner work.In other words, you can discover another side of yourself – or maybe discover your whole self for the first time – and begin to create something brand new in your life.It all depends on what you think life is - what it appears to be through your eyes or what you want it to be in your mind’s eye.Our guest this week on The Art 2 Aging is Dr. Paula Petry, PhD, a cognitive psychologist and trained shaman.She has created a program called Divine Design Activation which is meant to reconnect an individual with their inner self and allow greater clarity of purpose to open up. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theart2aging.substack.com/subscribe

It shouldn’t come as a surprise that ageism shows up in gyms and fitness classes.Why wouldn’t it?Ageism is a prejudice carried in the minds of people. So, if a fitness instructor leans that way, then his or her classes will reflect that in the workout.“You shouldn’t pick up that big dumbbell. Try the little one, dear.”Our guest this week on The Art 2 Aging is Erin Eleu, a functional aging specialist, whose mission is to highlight ageism in the fitness world.But more than that, Erin walks her talk; her own fitness classes for older adults are designed to intentionally challenge internalized ageism, as well. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theart2aging.substack.com/subscribe

If you are a regular listener to The Art 2 Aging, then you likely grew up in the 60s, an astonishing time to be young and alive.First, there was the massive transition in music. Then came the drugs. Alongside the negative aspects of the drug culture, emerged something that we can call New Consciousness, for lack of a better term.New Consciousness meant exploring the inner depths of one’s self. Transcendental meditation burst into the culture as one popular method and the exploration of the soul was underway.It was the “dawning of the Age of Aquarius,” as sung by the Fifth Dimension in 1969.Transcendental meditation (TM, for short) did not disappear like many of the musical acts from the 60s did; it is still with us along with several other types of meditation.What this amounts to today is this: a revitalized, even stronger search for the connection between man and God, Source, All That Is – whatever you choose to call it.TM established scientifically that meditation has profound positive effects on our bodies and minds. The same can be said of all types of meditation.Our guest this week is James Adams. James is a former broadcast journalist, former Bill Clinton campaign worker and the former V.P. of Marketing for Chipotle Mexican Grill.Today, James follows a different path and in an open, honest, and forthright way, he explains his past struggles with life and his newfound inner journey with meditation as his companion. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theart2aging.substack.com/subscribe

Our regular contributor on our Point of View segments, Dave McCaughan is back this week.Dave, as you might know, has a wealth of knowledge and experience in advertising and marketing, having worked for McCann, the global giant, in Asia for decades.He has always had a fascination with aging demographics because it impacted his work in a major way.Dave is now involved with the Global Wellness Institute, compiling a lengthy report on how aging well is perceived in different countries around the world.The report is still a work in progress but Dave has a number of interesting observations that his team has already gathered and he shares them with us this week. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theart2aging.substack.com/subscribe

As world populations age, there are numerous challenges around how to take care of older adults who need help. Most often, they surround healthcare systems.However, one aspect of aging populations may not get the same amount of attention: caregiving.More and more of us unwittingly become caregivers for a loved one, most often an aging parent.In December, The Art 2 Aging featured an interview with Debbie Howard, a former caregiver who is working hard to create support in her community in Texas for other caregivers.All too often, caregivers don’t have community resources that they can access to lessen their burden.If you are a caregiver, then you know what we’re talking about.In the Canadian province of Ontario, there is an organization whose mission is to support caregivers. It’s called the Ontario Caregiver Organization (OCO).OCO recently completed a year end review for 2025 that paints a disturbing picture of caregiving in the province; the strain that caregiving produces is showing up dramatically in the numbers.This week, A2A speaks with Amy Coupal, the CEO of Ontario Caregiver Organization.And if you’re a caregiver looking after an older person, perhaps a parent, then you need to hear this. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theart2aging.substack.com/subscribe

The world is a frightening place right now. Frankly, there are few times in history when it hasn’t been.Fear of the future has been ratcheting higher and higher since You-Know-Who entered office for the second time.But fear lives in the minds of each of us regardless of geopolitics; it’s an emotion that we experience almost more than its opposite, love.How do we deal with it? Especially if we are older adults with less time in front of us than behind us?There are many ways and strategies that we can employ to continue to get joy out of our lives, no matter what is going on within or without.Wayne Lehrer has been a frequent guest on The Art 2 Aging. His books, The Prodigy Within and The Art of Conscious Aging, describe our human experience in ways that open up new possibilities for all of us.Wayne has become a good friend, so, who better to turn to, I thought, when I wanted to discuss how all of us can live lives free of fear. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit theart2aging.substack.com/subscribe