Living Better, Longer
Bringing the Blue Zones Home
January 2026 Issue
By Elizabeth Skenes Millen
Photography by Hilton Head Health Wellness Resort and Spa
There are five areas in the world known for the best health and longevity of its residents. These areas are referred to as Blue Zones™️ and include Loma Linda, CA; Island of Okinawa, Japan; Nicoya Peninsula, Coastal Rica; Mountains of Sardinia, Italy; and Island of Ikaria, Greece. Blue Zone regions aren’t just known for their people living long lives, many well beyond 100, but also for living longer lives that are better and healthier with less chronic disease and disabilities than anywhere else in the world.
Dan Buettner, Blue Zones Founder, and his National Geographic team trekked around the world to discover and research the healthiest places on earth and the secrets of why the people in these regions experience longer, better lives. Though scattered around the globe, the five original Blue Zones were found to share similar habits and lifestyle practices.
Among the most important natural habits in these Zones are getting sunshine, focusing on family and friends, eating light and healthy, getting good rest and moving naturally every day. While it’s wonderful to know what makes these special faraway places healthy and vibrant, we all have to ask: How does this apply to me? Especially since the closest Blue Zone to the Lowcountry is nearly 2500 miles away.
This is where Hilton Head Health Wellness Resort and Spa (H3), one of the world’s most renown health resorts located right here on Hilton Head Island in Shipyard Plantation, comes into play. In 2025, H3 was the first health resort in the U.S. to launch the official Blue Zones program, The Blue Zones Path™️. This program offers an interactive study in the key practices and values that define the lifestyles, habits, and traditions of individuals in the original Blue Zone regions, enabling them to enjoy enhanced longevity and well-being.1 The program is designed to enlighten participants on how to bring Blue Zone philosophies into their own worlds since we all can’t alight in Okinawa, Nicoya, or the Mountains of Sardinia.
I have known about Blue Zones for years but never thought it possible to incorporate it into my daily life. In fact, there is a docuseries on Netflix, Live to 100: Secrets of the Blue Zones, that takes us to the regions and show us their ways of living. There is so much research behind the lifestyles and activities of Blue Zone inhabitants, it intrigued me to learn H3 had added the program to their repertoire of outstanding health and wellness programs. I signed up for a weeklong retreat and checked into the Sweetgrass Inn, which is the beautiful, private inn on the H3 campus. Even though I live on Hilton Head, it was important to me to fully immerse myself into the program in order to take it all in and not allow my daily grind to interfere. It felt completely authentic and allowed me to embrace the space and the place to get into a deep Blue Zone mindset without interruptions. I was excited about the curriculum and the experience ahead of me, so staying on campus kept me in the vibe and immensely bolstered my week.
A prime perk of participating in The Blue Zones Path™️ program is also having access to nearly everything H3 has to offer—a large variety of expert-led exercise classes, including yoga, swimming, nature walks, pickleball, aerobics, TRX, and so much more, as well as access to all classes on various health topics about nutrition, behavior modification, exercise, lifestyle, and so much more. I would take a class every day all year long if I could, simply for the positivity, guidance, and knowledge in each and every one. In addition, while I was there, I attended two cooking classes, learning how to cook healthier, add more vegetables into my diet, and use items I normally don’t buy like fresh beets and kohlrabi. But perhaps the very best part—the three delicious meals a day in H3’s chef-run, healthy dining room! I wish I could eat like this all the time. However, when my stay was complete, I had wonderful new ideas for meals accompanied by recipes, many that I learned to make during the cooking classes.
The Blue Zones Path is rooted in nine principles found to be common throughout the original Blue Zones. Surprisingly, diet and exercise are not at the top of the list. Our societal norm is to push restrictive diets and intense workouts, both of which can feel like torture and neither of which offers longevity (sticking with them or adding years to your life). The Blue Zones Power 9 Foundations does not partake in dogmatic regimens. It is much more balanced, gentle, sensible, natural, and it teaches principles that are more important for longevity and wellness.
Exercise is presented as “Move Naturally.” The world’s longest-lived people are in environments that nudge them into moving without thinking about it.1 So instead of doing 100 pushups, running 10 miles or holding a plank for eternity, it’s encouraged to simply make sure you’re moving each day using movements that come natural to your body. For us, this could translate into parking farther away to walk more, squatting and reaching while gardening, lifting pots from the stove or flowerpots in the garden, basically making sure you never stop the natural movements of the body. Sitting on the couch for hours on end, driving when you could walk, or becoming sedentary is not present in the Blue Zones.
So, if diet and exercise aren’t top of the list, then what is? One of the most important aspects of Power 9 is purpose. According to the Blue Zones Path, waking up in the morning knowing your purpose is worth up to seven years of extra life expectancy.1 Are you shocked by this? Do you know your purpose? What makes you get up in the morning and say, “Good morning, God!” instead of “Good God, morning?” Knowing your purpose is so important, we spent an entire session on this one topic.
Purpose provides a framework for decision-making and offers a clear and compelling reason for being. Older Okinawans can readily articulate the reason they get up in the morning. Their purpose-inspired lives give them clear roles of responsibility and feelings of being needed well into their 100s.1 The lesson on purpose was fascinating; it almost magically guided us to discover what is important to us, and ultimately to our purpose. I found the process of actually defining my purpose, putting it into words, and writing it in ink both contemplative and uplifting.
Another huge revelation came in the Power 9 Principal Connect. In every Blue Zone region, socializing, connecting with family, and belonging leads to longer, healthier lives. A study by Brigham Young University (BYU) found that having a supportive social network can improve lifespan by up to 50 percent. Individuals surrounded by friends and a supportive community tend to manage stress better and adopt healthier habits.1
In the session on connection, we thoughtfully analyzed our friendships and defined the differences between acquaintances, casual friends, close friends, and intimate friends. We identified qualities we need in friendships and what quality time looks like to us. It was amazing how clear it became of who I should spend more time with and who to limit time with. It is amazing to put the pieces together and discover how all of the Power 9 foundations not only affect our mental and physical health, but also shape our habits, attitudes, and most importantly, impact our lifespan—how long we will live! These factors are more powerful than I ever gave them credit for, as they can truly make or break the quality of your life—and your death.
I can’t express how much I absorbed going through the Blue Zones Path. It was an eye-opener and a mind-expander that has changed the way I will approach life every day from here on. It was so detailed, by day five, we were discussing kitchen, bedroom and home checklists to maximize our living space’s environment to make it amenable to a Blue Zone way of living.
Indeed, we are nearly 2500 miles away from the closest original Blue Zone, however, here in the Lowcountry, we have a world-class wellness and health resort dedicated to helping us bring the Blue Zones lifestyle into our bodies, minds, homes, and daily lives.
Elevating my quality of life—mind, body, spirit—is imperative to me, and that’s why I set a week aside to delve in. It’s self-care at the highest level. I came away having grown, armed with knowledge to enhance my life. It helped me define how I want to live, and it showed me ways of getting there. And, who knows, these changes may add years to my life, but one thing is for sure, it has already begun to add life to my years.
For more information: Log onto hhhealth.com or call 800-292-2440
> Hilton Head Health Wellness Resort and Spa was named Best of 2025 by Travel and Leisure.
> Hilton Head Health Wellness Resort and Spa has been voted No. 1 Weight Loss Resort
in America three years in a row.
> The Indigo Spa is a beautiful, professional, full-service spa located on the H3 campus and is open to the public by appointment only. Log onto www.indigospa.com to book an appointment.
1 source: The Blue Zones Path Workbook
The Blue Zones™️ and The Blue Zones Path™️ are registered trademarks. All rights reserved.