Rediscovering Youth: Be Your 20-Year-Younger Self This Halloween

Halloween is a time for reinvention, a chance to play with identities, and this year offers an invitation with lasting impact: dress as your 20-year-younger self, or whenever you felt the most vibrant in your life—not only in looks but in attitude and spirit.

Inspired by Dr. Ellen Langer's groundbreaking "Counterclockwise Study," this Halloween exercise invites you to experience what it's like to think, act, and feel younger. In Langer’s study, men in their 70s and 80s were placed in an environment reminiscent of two decades prior.

Encouraged to embody their younger selves, they showed impressive strength, memory, flexibility, and vitality improvements. The lesson? Our minds significantly influence the aging process. This Halloween, dress in the style of your younger years and, more importantly, embody that same energy, curiosity, and zest for life. As you adopt this mindset, think about activities that once brought you joy. How did you move, eat, and connect with others? Embrace this as a chance to celebrate how far you’ve come, recalling positive, fun memories that highlight your strength, resilience, and joy. Keep this energy alive beyond Halloween by incorporating habits that spark health, movement, and happiness.

A longevity mindset doesn’t just defy aging stereotypes; it invites us to see our best years ahead. Let’s focus on what’s possible, not what’s behind us. And when you put on this “costume” of youthfulness and vitality, carry it beyond the holiday. Embrace the chance to turn back the mental clock and find fresh energy in your days.

So, this Halloween, don’t just wear a costume—reclaim your vitality and optimism for the long term.