This summer is potentially the final chance for Beach Cities residents to get involved in the Blue Zones project, a three-year Beach Cities Health District program adopted from National Geographic explorer Dan Buettner’s investigations into the longest-living, healthiest people on the planet. Partnering with the cutting-edge well-being company Healthways and Gallup Polls, the project is applying health and longevity lessons learned from “Blue Zone” areas around the world to the Beach Cities.
Since its arrival in the Beach Cities in late 2010, the Blue Zones Project has been active in schools, workplaces, restaurants, city politics, and perhaps most crucially, in building a series of social networks that increase community connections and support healthier behavior. People who were previously strangers have formed small groups called “moais” – based on a practice among the longest-living people on Earth, in Okinawa, Japan – in order to walk together, cook together, and discuss their purposes in life.
A recent Gallup Well Being Index poll – the same measurement stick that in 2010 found local residents were “angrier than Detroit’s and more stressed than New Orleans’ – showed significantly more Beach Cities residents regularly eating vegetables, exercising, and generally feeling better about themselves and where they are living. Among the most striking of the gains was a nearly 14 percent reduction in obese and overweight adults locally, or an estimated 1,645 fewer obese and more than 12,000 fewer overweight adults then in 2010.
“What has emerged for me, in a very loud voice in our community, is we do want to be connected, and we do want to live on purpose,” said Lauren Nakano, the Blue Zones Project director for BCHD. “And, of course, we do want to be healthier.”
This summer will focus on “Power Nine” Blue Zones principles, such “moving naturally,” incorporating vegetable into daily meals with a “plant slant,” and finding the “right tribe.” Programs throughout each month will focus on incorporating those changes into your daily life.
May’s “Move it Mondays” will run from 6 to 7:30 p.m. and include a free activity on the Redondo Beach pier with instruction for a different way to move every week. May 6 will feature Zumba, May 13 will be a circuit class and May 20 will be a free yoga class.
Redondo Beach TEDx “Shift Happens”
Friday May 10
Redondo High
Blue Zones will be heavily involved in the upcoming Redondo Beach TEDx conferences, focusing on a “shifting paradigms” theme featuring speakers with thought provoking ideas and two taped TEDTalks. Food and beverages provided. 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Redondo Union High School Auditorium. TedxRedondoBeach.com.
Stroke seminar
Tuesday, May 14
Redondo Library
Learn about the myths and realities of strokes, including prevention guidelines, medication, treatments and warning signs. 6:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., Redondo Beach Library. 303 N. Pacific Coast Highway, Redondo Beach. Free. Visit www.bluezonesproject.com/communities/beach-cities for additional summer activities. For more information on programs and services at Redondo Beach Public Library, please call 310-318-0675 or visit www.redondo.org/library.
Las Candalistas
Friday, May 17
SB Botanical Gardens
Blue Zones will present speakers from 2 p.m to 3 p.m. at the Las Candalistas “Fashion in Bloom” event at the South Coast Botanical Gardens in Palos Verdes. The event, which benefits children and the environment in the South Bay, runs from 10 a.m. ’til 4 p.m. and features a gourmet picnic lunch, an informal fashion show, several talks and specialty shops. 26300 Crenshaw Ave. (310) 798-7499 or visit LasCandalistas.com. Tickets $50
Tour de Pier
Sunday, May 19
Manhattan Pier
Join the Blue Zones Project at the first annual Tour de Pier, a unique event that brings stationary cycling outside, to the Manhattan Beach pier to raise money for both cancer and children’s causes (the Hirshberg Foundation for Pancreatic Cancer Research, the Cancer Support Community of Redondo Beach, the Livestrong Foundation, and The Friendship Circle). “Ride in place, move charity forward.” 7:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Visit www.kintera.org/faf/home.
Purpose Workshop
Thursday, June 13
Beach Cities Health District
People with a strong sense of purpose live a longer, healthier, higher quality of life. Attend a purpose workshop and take home the tools you need to be the best possible you. 9:30 a.m. to 12 p.m., Beach Cities Health District, 514 N. Prospect Ave., Redondo Beach. $15. See powerofpurposejune13.eventbrite.com for more info.
