Once I moved to Italy in 2024, one of many first issues I observed was the very explicit method Italian nonne, or grandmas, stay. They stroll all over the place, regularly throughout town, with none help. Lots of them are dressed to the nines, however in addition they don’t attempt to disguise their age.
I used to be then delighted—and unsurprised—once I got here throughout a brand new wellness pattern making the rounds on social media. “Nonnamaxxing” is the concept that anybody can maximize their life if they simply embrace the habits of Italian grandmas. It occurs to be smart steerage.
There’s actually rather a lot to be taught from Italian grandmothers. Italy leads the European Union in life expectancy, and it’s a rustic the place the variety of centenarians is rising. A cluster of villages in Sardinia is without doubt one of the world’s 5 Blue Zones. On-line steerage consists of ditching social media, consuming selfmade every thing, sporting cotton nightgowns, and welcoming unhurried lunches with associates. A few of these strategies line up with how I’ve seen Italian grandmas stay. However as a well being and science journalist, I’ve observed there’s extra to it than what seems to be good on Instagram or TikTok. Actually, Licia Fertz, a 96-year-old Italian nonna primarily based in Viterbo, Italy, tells SELF, fairly the other is true.
“I placed on my make-up and costume in cheerful colours, even when I’m not leaving the home, as a result of presenting your self effectively is an act of self-love,” Fertz says.
It appears that evidently Italian nonne are the well being gurus all of us want. Learn on to be taught their secrets and techniques to a happier, more healthy, and longer life.
Embrace getting older
I not often see Italian nonne who don’t look their age. Actually, it’s one of many first issues I observed once I moved right here. On the swimming pools and seashores, it doesn’t matter how previous they’re; girls, nonne included, regularly put on bikinis. Truthfully, it’s refreshing and emphasizes a cultural mindset that getting older is a pure a part of life.
Fertz tells SELF that this mindset is vital to her residing a protracted and wholesome life. “By no means consider your self as previous,” says Fertz. “You might be born younger.”
It seems that as you age, having a extra optimistic perspective about getting older may show you how to stay longer too. A current research discovered an affiliation between how girls view getting older and the precise tempo at which they age.
Sonja Lyubomirsky, a distinguished professor of psychology on the College of California, Riverside, and writer of How To Really feel Beloved, tells SELF {that a} mindset is like placing on a pair of glasses or a coat. “It actually issues very a lot what our mindset is after we take into consideration getting older,” Lyubomirsky says. “Is it a present? Is it about knowledge, maturity, and the richness of life, or is it about deterioration and loss?” Each may be true, she says. “However you possibly can select.”
