ENDOCRINE GLANDS

Articles In This Section:

· SECOND CHANCE AT YOUTH

· ENDOCRINE GLANDS

· APPRECIATING THE YOGI'S PHILOSOPHICAL AND SPIRITUAL ORIENTATION

· THE THYROID

· GONADS THE ENDOCRINES

· FINAL INGREDIENT WITH ASANAS

· SENILITY IS DUE TO THYROID DEGENERATION

In this country especially, the cult of youth, perpetuated through the motion picture and TV screen, the advertising media, the glamour business, is so strong that men and women alike develop phobias about the onset of age. They watch anxiously for the first gray hair, the first tell-tale wrinkle, considering themselves has-beens the moment the bloom of first youth is gone. They actually speed deterioration by becoming resigned to it. Men in their thirties accept potbellies, women sagging bodies after childbirth. From there it is only one logical step to defeat via such degenerative diseases as arthritis, heart ailments and arteriosclerosis, and all because of the fatalistic assumption that whatever is wrong just has to be. Most depressing of all is the added conviction that sexual potency must inevitably diminish and desire wane as women approach the menopause and men the climacteric. In fact, a good many people positively invite old age through their attitudes.

None of this is really in the cards.

Man—and woman too of course—is only as old as his endocrine glands. Keep these in top order and the advancing years need not be a menace. Your arteries, your joints, your circulatory system will continue to serve you well. This doesn't mean you will not grow old at all. Of course you will! But the aging process will proceed a great deal more slowly than you believe is possible and as a result you will feel no reluctance at progressing from one stage of life to the next, for you will be entirely ready for it.

Each age has its own appeal and also its drawbacks. Each is an experience you would not want to miss. Thus childhood and youth have special charms, but their grace is counterbalanced by inexperience and emotional turmoil. As we grow older we acquire understanding, tolerance, appreciation and self-confidence. We also become more self-sufficient, gain in judgment, financial stability and greater freedom of action and of choice. On the other hand we carry a heavier load of responsibility. Others begin to expect more of us. It is no longer enough to be as the lilies of the field.

If you were granted your wish by a fairy godmother, would you really choose always to remain eighteen? Of course not. The very idea would bore you. People who are honest with themselves often say they wouldn't go through their youth again for anything in the world. Once was enough! The growing pains had been just too painful. But if the good fairy offered you the boon of always functioning at the peak of your potential, that would be something else again. To thinking people, that is the only kind of eternal youth worth bothering about. And that is what Yoga offers.

If you traveled in India, you would quickly see that the Yogis in general have found the secret of the magic fountain. Not only do they live much longer than ordinary people— but they age differently. Over the decades their skins retain a smooth unlined look and their hair remains black. Their eyes are clear and their bodies supple. At eighty they look forty, for neither their minds nor their physique show impairment. Still later they may grow thin to the point of emaciation, but mentally they retain their full powers until they are ready to depart this life.