a2a - the art 2 aging

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. Get full access to a2a: the art 2 aging at 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. Get full access to a2a: the art 2 aging at 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. Get full access to a2a: the art 2 aging at 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. Get full access to a2a: the art 2 aging at 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. Get full access to a2a: the art 2 aging at theart2aging.substack.com/subscribe

We all know that physical activity goes directly to lifespan and, indeed, healthspan - how healthily we are living our lives.That message has been embraced by those of us who are older adults; we get the connection between being strong and flexible and living a fit life.That’s why many older adults will happily join a local gym, determined to regain strength or increase it.Unfortunately, what do many find? Ageism. Not in the workplace this time. But in the fitness class, perhaps the last place they would suspect ageism to lurk.Erin Eleu is a functional aging specialist and falls resiliency coach who leads and teaches physical activity programs for older adults and who is vehemently opposed to ageism in the gym. She is also the host of the podcast series, AGEnts of Movement, and is our guest this week on Point of View. Get full access to a2a: the art 2 aging at theart2aging.substack.com/subscribe

Scott Fulton is an extremely talented individual. He’s a mechanical engineer by training who shifted into home design with older adults in mind, forming a company called Home Ideations. In fact, he custom built his own home in Virginia using the principles from Home Ideations.He dug deep – and still does – into how to live better as we age.Scott is well into his 60s, is very active and excels at physical fitness, competing in ironman triathlons and long distance running.His abiding interest in healthspan and longevity impelled him to dive into a vast trove of health data to answer one simple question: what’s the most important thing people can do for their bodies and brains that can help them live longer?By crunching many millions of bytes of data from 700 thousand adults, spanning 10 million person years, Scott has answered the question he posed and written a book called Function that lays out his findings.The answer to the question he posed to himself will surprise you..Settle in for a fascinating conversation. Get full access to a2a: the art 2 aging at theart2aging.substack.com/subscribe

There are nearly 60 MILLION Americans who are unpaid caregivers today.Now think about that; these are people who likely have full time jobs working 40 hours a week and who are working another 26 hours a week on average looking after an aging loved one.It’s a tough picture and it’s made worse by the lack of any kind of support available in the United States.Certainly this long term healthcare crisis (and it is a crisis by any definition of that word) is not exclusive to America alone.There are aging populations all over the world and countless millions more caregivers but many other countries have been proactive in implementing policies designed to mitigate the pressure that unpaid caregivers experience.Debbie Howard, a professional market researcher, knows what it’s like to be a caregiver after spending some years caring for her cancer-stricken mother.As a result, Debbie has devoted nearly 20 years to agitating for caregivers in the U.S., forming Aging Matters International and thecaregivingjourney.com along the way.She is our guest this week on The Art 2 Aging. Get full access to a2a: the art 2 aging at theart2aging.substack.com/subscribe

Dave McCaughan has made frequent appearances on The Art 2 Aging; he is an experienced marketer with decades of real, “in the trenches” marketing expertise and he has made the issue of marketing to an aging population a kind of mission for the past three decades.Today, he provides another thought-provoking Point of View in which he talks about how demographers have known for decades that the world’s population is aging (some countries faster and sooner than others, like Japan for example) and that an aging population will bring unique challenges and demands before it starts shrinking.So, if demographers have known this for more than 40 years, Dave asks, why is it now only just dawning on policy makers? Further, is encouraging women to have more babies really a viable tactic to reverse aging in any country? Or just a silly idea with no merit whatsoever (hint: it’s the latter…)? Get full access to a2a: the art 2 aging at theart2aging.substack.com/subscribe

I can’t remember how we first heard about Fred Woolman but I knew it was imperative to have him as a guest on The Art 2 Aging.That was more than a year ago; at the time, Fred was a full time fitness instructor at a nearby facility in his hometown of Rochester, Minnesota, 125 LIVE, where he was conducting fitness classes and personal training three times a week.At the age of 83.He’s still at it and the fact is, he is older than anyone in his classes – and they’re all what you could call “seniors”.They will tell you that they love his classes and they are his biggest fans.Well, bit by bit, Fred’s fame spread beyond Rochester and recently reached the offices of the Guiness World Records headquarters in London, England.They were intrigued that this now-84 year old guy was a fitness instructor and possibly older than any other living trainer. So they began their background checks to determine the veracity of Fred Woolman: was he who his bosses at 125 LIVE said he was? Could he be doing what he was purported to be doing at 84? Was it even possible?Yes, it was possible, they discovered. Fred came as advertised. He was the real deal – an 84 year old fitness instructor and personal trainer.So, Fred became a Guiness World Record Holder in September, 2025.But not just once. Twice. He’s in the Book of Records as the oldest living fitness instructor and the oldest personal trainer in the world.Now, what do you think that says about aging?I reached Fred at his home in Rochester, Minnesota to get the Guiness story from the horse’s mouth and learned that he’s just plunged headlong into a new physical activity: mountain biking!There’s no stopping this guy! Get full access to a2a: the art 2 aging at theart2aging.substack.com/subscribe

Last May, The Art 2 Aging had the pleasure of talking with Mike Drak about his commitment to regain his health.Mike is a 70 year old man who lives just north of Toronto. His sedentary lifestyle had resulted in large weight gains and he was determined to lose as much of it as he could before August 3.That’s when he would enter a triathlon competition in Ottawa, Canada’s capital city. Here’s the link to that episode. If you are one of the millions who have decided to lose weight through injections of Ozempic, you might want to listen to it.We got in touch several weeks ago to interview Mike again after the triathlon and learn how he fared during the event which turned out to be filled with unexpected surprises. Get full access to a2a: the art 2 aging at theart2aging.substack.com/subscribe

Every week, thousands of readers enjoy the musings about aging that can be found on Crow’s Feet. The best way to describe Crow’s Feet is to think of it as a gathering place or compendium of content about growing older that flows from the minds of hundreds of different writers every month.Nancy Peckenham oversees the content, editing and publishing the works of her writers and leaning on her former broadcast journalism career at CNN to keep the content polished.Nancy talks about that career, her new one with Crow’s Feet and what she, herself, thinks about growing older in this week’s episode of The Art 2 Aging. Get full access to a2a: the art 2 aging at theart2aging.substack.com/subscribe

Wayne Lehrer is a guy who thinks deeply. About life. About his role in the world. About what he can bring to others that is inspiring and supportive.In this week’s POV, Wayne talks about “oxygen” – the thing that inspires each of us to make a contribution – and why it’s important that we locate it within ourselves each day. Get full access to a2a: the art 2 aging at theart2aging.substack.com/subscribe

Statistics tell us that as we get older, we become more prone to falls. Whether from tripping over something like a curb on the street or the dog at home, once we get past age 65, balance starts to become an issue.But some incredible technology with bullet proof evidence that it works is being utilized by an Israeli company called Gait Better. They’ve taken the technology and applied it in real world situations with amazing results.Our guest this week on The Art 2 Aging is the CEO of Gait Better, Hilik Harari. Get full access to a2a: the art 2 aging at theart2aging.substack.com/subscribe

Artificial intelligence. AI, as we know it, more familiarly.Everyone is talking about AI and how it’s going to change just about everything. Which has many of us worried about just how and how much it’s going to change everything.Should we fear it? Plunge ahead and embrace it, come hell or high water?Regular POV contributor, Dave McCaughan, has his own take on AI. And, as usual, he makes a helluva lot of sense.Running Time: 5:30 Get full access to a2a: the art 2 aging at theart2aging.substack.com/subscribe

We have had a number of guests on The Art 2 Aging who have spoken out about ageism in the workplace and how its insidious nature prevents qualified older adults from re-entering a job market that believes if you’re over 50 or 60 you’re irrelevant.This week, thanks to our powerhouse guest, Loren Greiff, we tackle the problem from the point of view of the job seeker. What does an executive with 30 years experience need to do to get re-hired - and not just re-hired but with a substantial pay increase as well? You’ll find some great answers in this week’s episode. Get full access to a2a: the art 2 aging at theart2aging.substack.com/subscribe

As someone once famously said, “everything is related.” When it comes to our bodies, that couldn’t be more true.This week on POV, yoga expert instructor, Janine Agoglia who writes Yoga Living 50 And Beyond on Substack, talks about how movement is vital in our lives. Without movement, our bodies will stiffen up which, in turn, will affect our emotional wellbeing and then our mental state of mind. That’s what we mean when we say that everything is related.A five-minute listen Get full access to a2a: the art 2 aging at theart2aging.substack.com/subscribe

Ever wonder about how social policy - especially healthcare policy- is created? It’s not something that many people consider because social policy just is. However, the story behind healthcare policy, social security, meeting the needs of the older population, feeding the poor – is far more complex and downright complicated than you would ever consider.Our guest this week is Erin Maruzella and she is neck deep in social policy creation, especially when it comes to healthcare for older Americans. Formulating such policy in the current political climate is an almost Herculian task., as she explains in this week’s episode of The Art 2 Aging. Get full access to a2a: the art 2 aging at theart2aging.substack.com/subscribe

Regular contributor, Dave McCaughan, joins us this week for his POV on how to keep life interesting during retirement or, really, at any time in our lives.Dave is a former ad executive with McCann in Australia who has turned his attention to examining and commenting on retirement – something that has led him to very interesting observations about living in our later years. Get full access to a2a: the art 2 aging at theart2aging.substack.com/subscribe

Every so often, we come across someone who is ripping up the rule book on aging. And we know we have to get them on the show. Our guest this week is a 70 year old man named Mike Drak. Mike lives just north of Toronto. And he decided a few months ago that he wanted to lose a lot of weight, regain his health and keep it that way.So, he committed to competing in a full triathlon in early August and began training hard. Here’s his story and it includes some disturbing details about his experience with a popular weight loss drug. Get full access to a2a: the art 2 aging at theart2aging.substack.com/subscribe