Jonathan Snowiss On Lifestyle Habits Supporting Cognitive Well-Being
An Interview With Maria Angelova
Learn to let go. Everything comes, everything goes. This practice teaches how to appreciate and love what you have at this moment. For example, insults are someone else’s anger, so why worry about it. Another example is that what you love now will die. Love and adore him/her/it now; when it is time for your paths to part, let it.
In a world inundated with distractions, constant connectivity, and a plethora of information, our cognitive well-being has never been more crucial. Amidst the clamor, how do we nurture our minds, keep our focus sharp, and cultivate habits that promote mental clarity? The right lifestyle habits can be the cornerstone to maintaining and even enhancing our cognitive abilities, ensuring not just longevity but also the quality of our mental faculties. As a part of this series, I had the pleasure of interviewing Jonathan Snowiss.
Jonathan Snowiss has been practicing and teaching Chinese Martial Arts (which includes kung fu, tai chi, qi gong, meditation, Chinese philosophy, and some Traditional Chinese Medicine) for 34 years. He has written many articles, including a book “Climbing the Mountain: The Essence of Qi Gong and Kung Fu” and just finished his manuscript starting from the philosophy of martial arts diving deep into his understanding of virtue, currently titled “Reflections on Virtue.” He lives in Southern California with his extraordinary family.
Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we start, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your childhood backstory?
I grew up in a small college town in Southern California. The town is welcoming and has many interesting people who come to do lectures. I am a Star Wars fan, and when Si Tu Jie, a qi gong (slow movements for health, well-being, and spirituality) master, gave a lecture, I got hooked because it sounded so much like Jedi philosophy. So, at 11, I started to practice mindfulness and energy flow. However, at the time, I was also learning Chinese philosophy unbeknownst to me. I practiced, but not consistently, for a few years, and then I really got into it. I practiced qi gong, kung fu, and meditation for a few hours daily. I attended Pitzer College and was able to create a major, “Mind/Body Healing: Qi Gong.”
Is there a particular book, podcast, or film that made a significant impact on you? Can you share a story or explain why it resonated with you so much?
Star Wars had the most significant impact on my philosophy. Nevertheless, the one that made a fantasy movie into reality was the Dao De Jing (Tao Te Ching) by Lao Zi (Lao Tse). It is the base philosophy of Daoism; the natural flow of the yin/yang and, ultimately, the flow of the universe/nature. Daoism made the most sense because I learned to see it in everything from diet to the seasons to Newtonian and quantum physics. It also has so much about how to maintain a “harmonious” or “balanced” life.
Let’s now talk about lifestyle habits that support cognitive well-being. Are there specific foods or diets that have been scientifically shown to enhance cognitive functions?
Lifestyle is a daily and never-ending self-discovery. Giving a straightforward answer is complicated because life is multi-layered in multiple dimensions and then infinitely layered on top of that. So, bear with me.
Although all humans are similar, we are not replicated machines; we have unique bodies and minds that need a specific lifestyle. However, the similarities are close enough that we do not have to reinvent the wheel on health and lifestyle individually. Science has taken us very far in health and well-being, but so has many cultural traditions. We need to know at least the basics of the sciences to understand how to make it personal. That means we generally need to follow the science and tweak it to fit our personal needs. The challenge is to find what and how to tweak the knowledge so that it fits our lives. That never-ending search is part of wholesome lifestyles.
The answer about foods and diet is yes and no. Sometimes, it is scientifically proven yet practically wrong. Furthermore, what is practically right is scientifically wrong. (Don’t overthink that.) Life is an amazing form of craziness and misunderstanding, yet calm and simple. The Traditional Chinese Martial Arts path is the study of what is, how to use it, and how to refine and improve on it, including all attributes of science. This path takes all the information and makes it practical. It is learning to see how things change and to stay on top of it.
Constant change keeps us unbalanced because humans generally don’t like change and fight to prove their perspective is right. This is one part of where the science and practical (what people want to or can do) conflict. The search for balancing the two is only part of the lifestyle of learning how to flow within the universe.
(I just read the above aloud and my daughter asked, “How do you know humans so well? How do you know that?”) I know this because I am human, and although I am not “fighting” here, I am doing my best to explain my philosophy, and I am not saying that others are wrong, and I am right. I may be completely wrong! I accept this, and I hope in years to come, it will deepen, and I will think that my answers to this interview were all wrong!
From a Traditional Chinese Martial Arts (kung fu) point of view, anything and everything is part of your chosen lifestyle. (For example, I am at my kids’ gymnastics class as I am writing my responses. There are a few boys behind me playing around and very loud. Although my path teaches me not to be distracted by them, I am. The lifestyle I have chosen guides me to accept their distracting, excited laughs without getting upset in someway. I know their class will start soon, and I just have to patiently wait. It is the physical training that helps me to not be bothered.)
Anything and everything means diet, sleep, posture, entertainment, seasons, weather…, all aspects of life. These all profoundly impact physical health and cognitive function, some obvious, others not. The key is understanding and living within the restrictions that dictate life. For example, latitude impacts the length of sunlight each day as well as how much rain your area gets. These environmental factors heavily influence sleep if we like it or not. Or, the further north you go, the more likely you will wear warmer clothes throughout the year. In contrast, when closer to the equator you will wear cooler clothes. Clothing style reflects the environment in which you live. Those environmental surroundings will make you feel one way or another, influencing your mental state of being.
Or, for another example, your culture will give you different foods. Like how the bad dad joke goes, “What do they call Chinese food in China?” The obvious answer is “food”. Language helps form cultures and, therefore, your thought processes, so the more languages you know, the more you can think outside the box. All of these will give you a “path” to walk on. You may change the direction, but things outside your control put you on that path. Life has an order to the chaos, and you must find a path that will help you not find order but how to balance within what I call the “perceived chaos.” There is an order to the chaos that we will never understand. Your path must help you be at peace with that fact.
What are your thoughts on the importance of movement and exercise in the context of cognitive decline? How do different forms of exercise, such as aerobic vs. strength training, influence cognitive well-being?
I apologize for speaking in generalities because there are always exceptions to the rules. Therefore, my answer is not direct. Any correct answer most people would want will not be true because the reader has specific needs that an article cannot provide. Therefore, whatever form or style of exercise you chose, please, please, please find someone who is very knowledgeable (and intelligent) with proper form (and why), cautious to prevent injuries, and knows enough medical to help through injuries, and how to return from injuries — also, one who is not greedy but caring.
All exercises are extremely important, but in moderation. Traditional Chinese Martial Arts is all-encompassing. It has aerobics, strength training, stretching, fast and slow physical training, and pressure testing skills (sparing), which are more of a mental test than a physical one. It teaches how to flow with the yin/yang. Your physical training must reflect your current situation to balance the exercise with the situation. A current situation is everything from weather and health (physical, mental, spiritual) to even time of day. The exercise must also reflect your body’s needs, which might not be what the general rules of training teach.
The flow that we teach is the flow of nature called “wu wei”. (Wu wei is much, much more than that, but it is not important to this interview.) So, we learn when to train fast, slow, and in stillness. It depends on everything from time of day to season, and even your mood will change what kind of training is appropriate; it depends on the balance of the yin/yang. It is a constant awareness of the exchange of the yin/yang energy flow. It is a lifelong study. The variety of exercises becomes specific as the practitioner trains. In the physicality of it all, the mind will naturally find balance. If the mind does not balance in exercise, the practitioner is not training correctly.
For example, a general rule for summer and winter training differs slightly. Winter is colder than summer, so one needs to conserve his/her yang energy, so the training is adjusted. To quantify it, 60% slow and 40% fast or thereabout. It is the opposite during the summer; most is fast training mixed with some slow. Then, the training also changes as we age, so generally, there is more slow training. If I were to try to train like I did when I was in high school, I wouldn’t be accepting that my body has changed. My needs have changed. This martial art path is not for short-term gains but for lifelong benefits. We are not trying to beat nature; we are trying to be nature. If we try to beat nature, we will lose. The goal is to still train at old age, with as little pain and injury as possible.
Can mindfulness practices or meditation offer measurable benefits to cognitive health?
“Measurable” is a misleading comparison when it comes to this stuff. Are you measuring scientifically, against others, or to yourself 10 or 5 years ago or just last week? Although it is easier to see progress by comparing yourself to your past, someone who used to meditate for 10 minutes and now can easily for 30 minutes is a measurable progress in time, and one can notice the progress. However, then he/she is not fully in the present moment enjoying the minute-to-minute experience, focusing on time duration, not meditation. This means that comparing yourself, during your training or even day to day activities, distracts from doing what you are currently doing. It creates more emotional conversation in the mind that can motivate, but it takes away mindfulness. If someone is not able to enjoy the present moment because you are trying to outdo yesterday, then you are not enjoying the process of improvement. When I practice meditation, I do each move and breath as if I had just learned it. I’m not worried about what or how, I’m enjoying what is (being present in the moment). The feeling of novelty and amazement after years of repetition makes it fascinating, which makes me enjoy it.
In Traditional Chinese Martial Arts, there are many mindfulness and meditative practices. Qi gong (breathing, energy, and mental practice without martial intent) and meditation are essential. Without these two, martial arts training is considered “empty.” All traditional styles have these in some form or another. Without these, the physical training will not be complete to help train the mind.
Most people find kung fu physical training difficult, as expected, but mindfulness and meditation are much more complex. You can be mentally distracted away from the mind while physically training by being mindful of the body, which is essential to a healthy mind. Nevertheless, the mind (logical mind) and heart (emotional mind) do not generally want to face themselves, so being mindful of the mind is much more challenging. Therefore, Traditional Chinese Martial Arts include the stillness of meditation. Being mindful of the mind means to not control but observing subjectively with the objective of mind on the mind. Physical and mental training help each other. The ability to overcome physical training barriers paves the way for the mind to overcome itself and vice versa.
How does the quality and quantity of sleep correlate with cognitive performance and long-term brain health?
Quality and quantity are very different. One might get 4 hours of quality sleep and have better cognitive health than someone who gets quasi-quality for 8 hours. Alternatively, sometimes the quasi-quality of 8 hours has better results than 4 “quality” hours. Perhaps the quality is only “wished” quality. So which one are you? Or are you something else? No teacher, scientific study, or arbitrary person or data can tell you what you need. You must discover it day by day, season by season, and year by year. Start by doing what the neurologists recommend: put the phone down an hour before sleep, don’t eat too close to sleep time, don’t drink too close to sleep, or cut off caffeine in the early afternoon, among many more suggestions.
Nevertheless, you know you have had a good sleep when you wake up refreshed, ready with a “seize the day” attitude that can last the whole day. Begin with the recommendations, refine it to fit your physical and mental needs. And adjust as needed. For example, extra stress, jetlag, or whatever will change your needs. Learn to go with the flow. Be wary of your desires versus your needs.
How do social connections and interpersonal relationships influence our cognitive well-being?
Social connections and interpersonal relationships significantly impact everything, not just cognitively. Traditional martial arts (not just from China), related to the philosophy surrounding them, teaches how not to be influenced by these. A highly skilled master is perfectly happy as a hermit for long stretches of time or surrounded by the craziness of society. If you must rely on others to keep cognitive well-being, then you are looking outside of yourself for others to make you “well.” This could mean that you are not “well” if you are alone. With that said, we are social animals, so it is natural to be social and have interpersonal relationships; therefore, it is absolutely healthy. Just do not rely on it. Learn to be both, a social butterfly and a hermit, separately at different times and simultaneously. Take “it” as “it” is.
What role do lifelong learning and continuous mental stimulation play in maintaining optimal cognitive health?
Lifelong learning is being open-minded. Lifelong learning is not supposed to be “stimulating”; it is to be deepening. For example, it is great to learn new things, but if it is separate from what you already know, it will be intriguing and fun, but will only be superficial and not lifelong unless you learn to take it all the way. Mentally stimulating is like picking up a new hobby. It isn’t lifelong, it’s temporarily enjoyable. But, learning a new language, for example, makes you relearn and better understand the languages (and cultures) you already know. Therefore, it is a deepening of the study of communication, culture, food, and everything else that comes with learning a new language. It isn’t just words and grammar. You are learning an entire culture and even how that culture sees your culture.
Bruce Lee is an example of lifelong learning, even though he died at 32. He is a great example for most martial artists. He started with wing chun but also learned tai chi, boxing, and fencing, among other practices. He used different styles of wisdom to deepen his knowledge of martial arts. He would be absolutely amazing if he hadn’t died when he did. Although he is a famous actor, I personally never see him that way, I see a person who was on a martial artist’s path and walked it every day.
This deepening of knowledge and learning a new language or style of martial arts deepen the amazement and awe of life. Learning teaches us to see the complexities that come from the simplicities of life. It deepens the wonders of life. In this amazement and wonder, it becomes easier to smile in earnest, balancing one’s mental well-being.
“Continuous mental stimulation” is actually a scientifically sounding “constantly distracted.” In learning new things, do not spend too much time being stimulated. It takes time for new information to sink, for the mind to play with, and for it to begin to be useful. The problem with Google search is that we are quickly stimulated, learn a piece of information, and then move on to the next subject.
What are your five favorite lifestyle habits that proactively support cognitive well-being? Please share a story or an example for each, if you can.
1. Learn to let go. Everything comes, everything goes. This practice teaches how to appreciate and love what you have at this moment. For example, insults are someone else’s anger, so why worry about it. Another example is that what you love now will die. Love and adore him/her/it now; when it is time for your paths to part, let it.
2. Do qi gong, tai chi, yoga… slow physical exercises. Get to know your body. It is layered thousands of times. Slow movements allow you to peel back the layers and get to know each layer. Depending on your age, do fast like aerobics, a martial art….
3. Meditate. There are thousands of ways to meditate but start with being very aware of your breathing. If you get distracted, which will happen, then focus back on breathing. Acknowledge the distraction and let it go. If you work too hard on paying no attention or suppressing the distraction (anything other than what you want to pay attention to), it will only become stronger and stronger. So, acknowledge it for a moment and let it go. Start with 10 minutes of practice, and go longer when you are ready. Eventually, go for a half hour.
4. Keep to a schedule. At bare minimum follow a schedule of when you wake up and go to sleep and stick to it. And then add to it. Get a good rhythm to your life. Your body and mind work better knowing when it is supposed to do something.
5. Eat as healthily as possible. Do not be too strict with it, but have discipline not to overindulge. Get to know your body’s needs, such as what you should eat and should not eat. There are hundreds of diets, but start with eating less junk and processed foods and then building on it.
Are there any proven techniques or habits that can help protect against age-related cognitive decline?
Learning new things, doing puzzles, reading, even learning to juggle… All are proven to keep the mind sharp. It is probably not proven, but it will at least make things better: learn to see the wonders of life. Be in awe of it. Learn to see the beauty beyond the chaos right in front of your eyes. You can be cognitively healthy but constantly upset or angry. If you are, then your health is pretty miserable.
In your professional or personal experience, what can be done to delay cognitive decline if the genetic predisposition is there?
I honestly have never had this experience. People I have worked with never talked about if their problems were genetic or not. Personally, I believe that it does not matter if cognitive decline is genetic or not, it is wise to always keep your mind as sharp as you can. Many people might blame genetics when it actually their laziness. So no matter what, you’re on top of it.
Is there a person in the world whom you would love to have lunch with, and why? Maybe we can tag them and see what happens!
The challenge to have an honest answer is knowing that it is just a lunch. Maybe making a friend? No goal? No agenda? Just a chill time with a good person? And living? Maybe Keanu Reeves. From what I know about him, he seems like a guy someone can just hang out with. I admire his humility.
How can our readers follow you online?
My websites are: www.internalqitraining.com and www.thevirtuespath.wordpress.com
Facebook: Virtue’s Pathway, Internal Qi Training, and Wei Tuo Academy
Thank you so much for sharing these important insights. We wish you continued success and good health!
About The Interviewer: Maria Angelova, MBA is a disruptor, author, motivational speaker, body-mind expert, Pilates teacher and founder and CEO of Rebellious Intl. As a disruptor, Maria is on a mission to change the face of the wellness industry by shifting the self-care mindset for consumers and providers alike. As a mind-body coach, Maria’s superpower is alignment which helps clients create a strong body and a calm mind so they can live a life of freedom, happiness and fulfillment. Prior to founding Rebellious Intl, Maria was a Finance Director and a professional with 17+ years of progressive corporate experience in the Telecommunications, Finance, and Insurance industries. Born in Bulgaria, Maria moved to the United States in 1992. She graduated summa cum laude from both Georgia State University (MBA, Finance) and the University of Georgia (BBA, Finance). Maria’s favorite job is being a mom. Maria enjoys learning, coaching, creating authentic connections, working out, Latin dancing, traveling, and spending time with her tribe. To contact Maria, email her at angelova@rebellious-intl.com. To schedule a free consultation, click here.
