Risa Morimoto - Creating Curiosity to Tell People's Stories

Update: 2024-02-14

Description

We need to think more about living with intention and growing old gracefully.

Risa Morimoto is the Founder and CEO of Modern Aging and Dream Retirement in Mexico. She focuses on holistic health practices and lifestyles to optimize longevity for people in midlife. She is also an award-winning TV and documentary producer/director. She has directed over 200 episodes of House Hunters International and other programs for HGTV, Animal Planet, A&E, Hulu and others.

In our society, we are not creating a safe space for conversations around aging and health. Risa discovered the importance of finding the root causes of health issues rather than just treating symptoms. Being a woman of color and having perspectives of multicultural living brought her to the conclusion of how Eastern and Western medicines, combined, can provide answers for healthier lives. Her personal story about taking care of her parents led her to her life purpose and to help others to be healthier.

Living in gratitude, resilience, and understanding that only small actions can lead to a more fulfilling life are the gems Risa is sharing with the audience. Bio-individuality and not a cookie-cutter approach to health care and wellness is the future if we want to have healthy and happy people.

Humans are living beings who need to be looked as a whole. Grinding systems are not a good place to create healthy habits and meaningful change around health care and aging. What is the point of living until 100 if you are going to be sick all the time? Joy, meaningful connections, air, food, genes, habits, work, stress, personal growth, and time for self-care all have an important role in our lives. In order to live your life without regret, don’t forget to focus energy on meaningful pursuits.

Show notes:
🎬 Risa is a filmmaker, a podcaster, and a documentarian: helping the start of Asian/Pacific/American Studies at NYU. 01:07
🌸 Art was not a realistic pathway for Risa back then: film school at NYU. 02:59
❤️‍🩹 Heart attack that made a change: what is the impact she wanted to leave behind? 04:14
⚠️ Stress is at the core of so many illnesses: all the things that bring us down. 07:58
⚡ The power of joy and feeling safe: Modern Aging - healthier aging process. 09:37
🧓🏻 Resilience and gratitude her mom had in sickness: documentary series on Asian-American families and caregiving. 15:44
😇 Living up to 100, but being sick all the time: hustle and work can’t help you age gracefully. 22:40
🎯 Western medicine vs Eastern medicine: marrying both and finding roots of the diseases - holistic health. 27:17
🤓 How identities get put into policies that are created: creating safe spaces for people of color and need for shifting things. 31:22
🧠 Mindset changes and habits are making it work: wellness and a personalized approach to it. 34:05
🏃🏻‍♀️ Working out after 14 hours of filming and Ron’s workout habits. 38:08
😍 Producing House Hunters: filmmaking and traveling to many places. 41:26
🙏 Risa’s hodgepodge projects: appreciating your life to move in it meaningfully. 47:58
💎 Risa’s RONdering: Living without regret - we are not limitless, so beware of where you are focusing your energy. 49:44 .
🥅 Don’t let other people define you: do what makes you happy. 51:41