AofA's Hot To Trot Talking Points

Every Friday

Join us this week at AofA to discuss our usual eclectic mix of serious and frivolous.

1. Firstly to nap or not to nap, that is the question. I say yay especially when I have only slept for four hours in the night. So I am delighted that there is a study based in Greece to see what happened when the nation stopped having a siesta. And actually there was a serious decline in health.

‘What Happened When an Entire Country Stopped Napping?
Dr. Matthew Walker highlights a striking natural experiment: when Greece ended its national siesta policy, rates of cardiovascular disease sharply increased—especially in working men.

This shift wasn’t just cultural—it was biological. Afternoon naps help regulate blood pressure, reduce stress hormones, and improve cognitive performance. Removing this rest period disrupted the population’s circadian rhythm and cardiovascular resilience.

Sometimes, modern productivity comes at the cost of ancient wisdom.

Follow @longevitymind for more science-backed fitness and longevity insights.

Media: @richroll’

2. So in general, I don’t approve of well-known people quotes. But in this case, I am surrendering to the exception. And let’s face it, Meryl is always great. The story we carry inside us. I particularly like that.

"Aging is not for the weak. One day you wake up and realize that your youth is gone, but along with it, so go insecurity, haste, and the need to please... You learn to walk more slowly, but with greater certainty. You say goodbye without fear, and you cherish those who stay. Aging means letting go, it means accepting, it means discovering that beauty was never in our skin... but in the story we carry inside us."

~Meryl Streep

3. So Flamenco does actually allow older dancers. And our member Gilly Hanna pays tribute to that fact. ‘Flamenco is fabulous with dancers performing in their later years. But this is rare in the rest of the dance world where older dancers are rarely seen on stage. Yet ageing bodies can evoke profound emotions and narratives, with real lived experience in their bones. A lack of older dance performers limits the expressive power of dance as an art form and perpetuates ageist attitudes.’

4. I am wont to ask this kind of question in the group. And I was fascinated by this particular question because I felt that people would be divided. And so it was. A lot of women said these days they were so happy not to feel sexy or have to feel sexy because they could focus on other stuff like their gardens. Whereas others proclaimed they’d never felt so sexy in their lives because they were so much more confident in their bodies. One of our members is writing a piece about feeling super-sexy and 71…

5. We love Keith from the Great Pottery Throw Down and we know how he loves to cry. And what a positive message that is to young and older men. Happy 60th birthday Keith.

6. Well we looked on in admiration and semi-horror. We all wish we could surf as we get older but we had to face the reality, it’s very unlikely that we’re going to. However, wowee what a great bunch of later-in-life women surfers. Yoohoo.