In most cases, death is not an instantaneous event but a gradual, protracted process.

The average person begins to biologically decline as soon as they enter their second decade of life. If you are therefore past your teenage years, you are presently dying.

Three primary factors determine the pace of this process: physiology, psychology, and energy (i.e., vital life-force). Each invariably influences lifespan — and is markedly malleable.

Although it may seem that one moment someone is present and the next they are gone, they have been dying for a long time.

The final, accelerated, stage of the dying process begins many months or even years before the momentous moment we call “death.” This phase is marked by a deceleration of digestion (accompanied by loss of appetite) and kidney filtration, and is succeeded by a diminution of circulation and respiration.

Even after the brain and heart cease to function and a person is declared “dead,” at the cellular level, life-force remains, and the dying process continues for days thereafter.

The surest way to slow the speed of dying is to mindfully maintain the body, mind, and energy (all of which are inextricably connected).

Maintaining the body involves adhering to dietary practices that accord with one’s biology, reducing exposure to toxicants, and ensuring adequate movement and rest.

Maintaining the mind involves continuous intellectual cultivation, avoidance of destructive stimuli, and resolute acceptance of the vicissitudes of life.

Decelerating the dying process on the energetic level requires consistent exploration into the deeper, subtler aspects of one’s existence.

Being deliberately diligent in these domains offers one the greatest opportunity to successfully delay one’s inevitable, ultimate demise.