August 2, 2026      Field Note #86

Avraham Cohen, PhD, RCC-ACS, CCC

dr.avrahamcohen@gmail.com

(604) 313 8423

The Keys to Longevity, Better Health, Youthful Energy, and Looking as Young as You Feel

The substantial words are in

The earth and sea:

They are in you.

—Walt Whitman

Dear Reader,

As I put together the title of this short missive, I am a little bothered by how it may come across, as if I am attempting to lure you in! Well, I am! I am most serious about this proposition that we can work on ourselves in multiple integrated dimensions to live longer, stay healthier, and look more animated and vibrant (not tired, haggard, and aged): in short, this is about living a good and full life.

Or, as Socrates put it, “’It is a shame to grow old without seeing the beauty and strength your body is capable of…”

Breaking my own usual pattern of how I write, I will start with my conclusions to date:

The following key points are crucial, central, and personal. These sum up what I have discovered over my lifetime of inner and outer research up to the current moment:

1) Ongoing inner and relational work that includes accessing the gold in your personal Shadow, and that deals with all that would impair your ability to live well, look after yourselves and all others, and make your best contribution to life.

2) Physical fitness: there is an overwhelming volume of rigorous and unequivocally clear research that show that physical fitness is the single most powerful factor for health, disease prevention, and energy beyond what your years might seem to dictate.

3) Attention to life force energy. I am hesitant to use the word ‘spiritual’ as it has so much diversity of meaning in everyone’s mind. Hence, I go for “Life Force.” Life Force is about energy and our search, conscious and otherwise, for what matters. My research about life force has led me to search for and learn the feeling of it, and how to access it increasingly. This is the vital force that ‘fuels’ all else that we engage with in life.  

I have been in fact writing about and living the above dimensions for a major part of my life, and for that reason I am stating them here as my “conclusion;” at least up to this moment! If you have been reading my field notes, you may recall previous Notes in which I talk about these ideas that are delivered as a “conclusion” here.

As far as I can tell, life force is not something any one of us creates or have a monopoly on. It is what this cosmos and life are made of. It is always there. Our work is to access it. Therein lies the challenge. If we have inner blocks, accessing life force becomes difficult, in which case we need to investigate and facilitate the transformation of these blockages in the service of the free flow of this life force. The idea here is that we can open up the secrets of these inner blocks, access the gold hidden within them, and, most crucially, liberate the wild and free energy of life.

Since mind and body are intertwined, as the Japanese word, Kokoro, heart-mind as one signifies, we can support the whole process of liberating life force with the development of strong muscles and a mobile, pliable, and energized body; as an integrated heart-mind. A relaxed body is integral to freeing up energy. As well, a consciousness that is as free as possible from inner blocks to seeing, being, and receiving, and is definitely a key factor for inner freedom. Thus, I recommend cultivating a body that feels good to live inside and a psychological constitution that is freed from chronic ‘automatic’ patterns of reactivity, and a spirit that is free and connected.

This liberating process can be enhanced and even started at any point in your life. Going forward, you can live your own best possible life.

I recently received in my inbox the following quote attributed to Pablo Picasso, which might well sum up what this is all about:

“The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it…”

I am now at the beginning of my summer break, and I wish all of you, a rich and restorative summer!

I shall return to my practice in September and to Field Note creation in October.

Shalom,

Avraham

PS Thank you Heesoon!