We often think of self-discovery as a pursuit of the young, a time to wrestle with insecurities and choices about the future. But as we navigate middle age, parenthood, career changes, or the quiet moments after children leave the nest, self-discovery takes on new dimensions.

It becomes a foundation for self-improvement, not just quick fixes or trendy hacks, but a deeper understanding of what to improve and why.

Embarking on a Journey of Biological Self-Exploration

My own journey of self-discovery has taken a biological and ecological route.

Becoming a father later in life, coupled with my background as a biologist/ecologist, has fueled this exploration.

I’ve come to believe that one of our biggest blind spots as humans is forgetting that we are, fundamentally, biological beings.

We are animals, intricately connected to our environment.

Our bodies and minds have been shaped by millions of years of evolution.

What we breathe, eat, drink, and even how we move through the world profoundly impacts us. We heal faster and feel better when we see plants around us.

We are not just individuals, but ecosystems unto ourselves. Our very thinking and feeling is intimately connected to our gut microbiome, all the life in our digestive tract; our skin doesn’t fulfil its functions right if its microbiome is out of its dynamic balance.

This perspective guides my quest to understand myself and our shared human experience.

When it comes to this topic, microexploration, as I envision it, merges my interests in biology, technology, and fitness with the broader trends in health and longevity.

It’s not just navel-gazing, but a deep dive into the fascinating world within.

Understanding Our Biology for a Longer, Healthier Life

A biological understanding of ourselves is crucial, especially in the context of the current interest in longevity. While technological advancements hold immense promise, we need to grasp how our bodies and minds fundamentally work to avoid falling for false promises.

The focus has shifted from merely extending lifespan to improving healthspan – not just living longer, but living better. This resonates deeply with me, having become a father at an age when we supposedly experience an “aging spurt.” It’s a powerful motivator to stay fit and healthy, not just for myself, but for my children.

The global trend toward an aging population underscores the urgency for proactive and preventive approaches to aging. As experts argue, we often get aging wrong. While some decline is inevitable, the loss of strength, balance, and vitality that we often associate with aging doesn’t have to be so severe.

By staying active and engaged, we can maintain a high quality of life until the very end. It’s a stark but empowering perspective: we can choose to live fully and then die quickly when our time comes, rather than enduring a long, slow decline.

Posts to Come

In the posts to come, we’ll delve deeper into this journey of self-discovery.

We’ll explore the latest research, tools, and practices that can help us understand and optimize our biology for a longer, healthier life, for example taking a deep dive into matters of the heart: Heart rate zones, HRV, and how they relate to lifestyle, fitness, and longevity.

We’ll uncover the fascinating connections between our bodies, our environment, and our overall well-being, finding them in something as easy – and easily misleading, but also educational and helpful – as weight tracking (and more, much more) with a scale.

We’ll look at such fundamental things as genetic makeup revealed by DNA testing – and how useless it is, for the most part.

Join me as we microexplore ourselves, unlocking the secrets to a vibrant and fulfilling life.