Blue Zones Lessons You Can Use in Colorado Springs

· 5 min read

Aging Wildly: Ikigai and Kaizen Principles for an Unstoppable Life After 60, by Anne Jensen.

Buy Anne's book on Amazon · About the book

You've probably heard of Blue Zones. The term describes a handful of places around the world where people tend to live unusually long, active lives. The best-known examples include Okinawa in Japan, Sardinia in Italy, Ikaria in Greece, the Nicoya Peninsula in Costa Rica, and Loma Linda in California.

What makes these places interesting isn't a miracle food or a secret supplement. It's a set of ordinary daily patterns. That's why Blue Zones wisdom plays a supporting role in Aging Wildly, Anne Jensen's new book about living fully after 60. In the book, Anne describes these patterns as practical habits found in communities where people tend to live longer, more connected lives.

The patterns behind long, connected lives

Researchers who studied these communities noticed several shared habits. The book highlights a few of them:

  • Natural movement built into the day, like walking, gardening, and doing chores by hand.
  • A sense of belonging, often through a faith community or close-knit group.
  • A sense of purpose, a reason to get up each morning.
  • Food that supports everyday well-being, usually simple and heavy on plants, beans, and vegetables.
  • Strong social circles of friends and family who look out for one another.
  • A regular way to slow down, such as prayer, a nap, quiet time, or gathering with friends.

Anne makes an important point about these habits: they aren't separate assignments. They reinforce one another. A walk can turn into a friendship. A shared meal can become belonging. A spiritual community can offer both grounding and practical help when life gets hard.

Bringing Blue Zones home to Southern Colorado

Colorado Springs isn't a Blue Zone, and you don't need it to be. The goal is to borrow the habits, not the zip code. Here's how each one can look right here.

Move naturally

People in Blue Zones rarely go to a gym. Instead, movement is part of daily life. In Southern Colorado, that might mean:

  • Taking short, flat walks on local trails and park paths, such as those around Garden of the Gods or the many neighborhood parks across the city.
  • Growing tomatoes or herbs in a raised bed or on a patio.
  • Parking farther from the grocery store entrance when it's safe to do so.
  • Walking to a neighbor's house instead of calling.
  • Joining a group class like tai chi, chair yoga, or pickleball. Read more in Pickleball, Tai Chi, and Staying Active.

A note on altitude: Colorado Springs sits at more than 6,000 feet. If you're new to the area or have heart or lung concerns, ask your doctor what level of activity is right for you, drink plenty of water, and start slowly.

Find your people

In Okinawa, many people belong to a moai, a small social group that meets regularly and supports its members for years, sometimes for life. You can build something similar. Invite three or four friends to meet once a week for coffee, a walk, or cards. Keep the day and time the same so it becomes a habit.

Senior centers, libraries, faith communities, and hobby clubs across the Pikes Peak region are good places to meet people. For more ideas, see Beating Loneliness After 60.

Keep a sense of purpose

In Blue Zones, older adults often stay involved in family and community life well into their 90s. Purpose doesn't retire. Here, that might look like volunteering, mentoring a young person, helping at your place of worship, or caring for a pet. It's closely tied to the Japanese idea of ikigai, which we explore in Finding Your Ikigai After 60.

Eat simply, and eat together

Blue Zones diets vary from place to place, but they share some themes: lots of vegetables, beans, whole grains, and nuts, with meat as a smaller part of the plate. Meals are often shared with family or friends.

  • Visit a local farmers market in season and try one new vegetable.
  • Cook a pot of bean soup and share it with a neighbor.
  • Start a monthly potluck with friends.
  • Eat slowly and stop when you feel comfortably full.

If you have diabetes, kidney disease, or another condition that affects what you eat, talk with your doctor or a registered dietitian before making big changes.

Slow down on purpose

Stress affects everyone, at every age. People in Blue Zones have built-in ways to downshift. Some pray. Some nap. Some gather with friends at the end of the day. You might try a few quiet minutes on the porch watching the light change on Pikes Peak, a short afternoon rest, a regular worship service, or a daily phone call with a friend.

Why this matters more than any single tip

It's easy to treat healthy aging like a checklist. Walk 10,000 steps. Eat kale. Do crosswords. But the lesson of Blue Zones is that the habits work best together, and that they're woven into a life rather than added on top of it.

That's the same spirit behind Aging Wildly. Anne writes that the book is not another pillars-of-aging checklist. Instead, it pairs Blue Zones wisdom with two Japanese ideas, ikigai and kaizen, to help readers build a life that's connected, purposeful, and their own. Kaizen, the practice of small daily improvements, is a perfect fit here. You don't have to change everything. Pick one habit and start small.

Your kaizen steps this week

  • Add one ten-minute walk to your day, ideally with a friend or neighbor.
  • Invite two or three people to a weekly coffee or walking group, and set a regular day.
  • Cook one simple, plant-heavy meal and share it with someone.

Aging Wildly: Ikigai and Kaizen Principles for an Unstoppable Life After 60, by Anne Jensen.

Buy Anne's book on Amazon · About the book

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