The Five Pillars of Aging Gracefully in India Currents

The Five Pillars of Aging Gracefully with Barbara Waxman on India Currents

In a recent India Currents feature, columnist Mukund Acharya offers a five-pillar framework for aging gracefully, drawing on both contemporary research and the wisdom of Vedanta, Yoga, and Ayurveda. His pillars span physical vitality, mental engagement, emotional and spiritual depth, social connection and purpose, and the capacity to accept and adapt to what age brings. The throughline is one I return to often in my own work: aging well is not about defying time but about living with depth, dignity, and meaning at every stage.

I was glad to be included among the voices in this piece. Acharya cites my concept of the third span, the dimension of longevity that reaches beyond lifespan and healthspan, and my conviction that what most shapes our later years is not our health data but qualities like mindset, purpose, relationships, and joy. I am honored to appear alongside former Surgeon General Vivek Murthy's call to treat community as a form of medicine and Jane Fonda's invitation to imagine aging as a staircase we climb rather than an arc that declines.

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