Healthy Living
By Daily Bruin Staff
Feb. 26, 2002 9:00 p.m.
 Health and fitness guru Susan Jones is
featured in the current issue of "Natural Beauty and Health
Magazine." In it, she elaborates on the elements necessary for
daily health.
By Nick Rabinowitsh
Daily Bruin Contributor
The average, caffeine-wired, In-N-Out-grubbing college student
has a lot to learn from Susan Smith Jones.
Even if things haven’t started to sag yet, wrinkles
haven’t crept into the corners of the face, and hair
hasn’t begun growing where it shouldn’t, Jones swears
that the healthy lifestyle she presents in the current issue of
“Natural Beauty and Health Magazine” and her new book,
“A Fresh Start,” is the best insurance one can have
against the unwelcome changes brought by aging.
Jones’s new book is her tenth in a series about creating
healthier lifestyles. Her previous work, “Choose To Live
Peacefully,” has even brought her a Pulitzer nomination.
“A Fresh Start” distinguishes itself from her others
in that it includes over 250 food recipes for a healthy mind and
body. In a telephone interview, Jones describes her latest release
as part cookbook and part health and fitness manifesto, providing
everything a person needs to nourish the body and soul.
Jones’s words hit home especially at UCLA; she teaches
strength and flexibility classes at the John Wooden center two days
a week. This connection to the UCLA community allows her to keep in
touch with the needs of college students who she believes can
particularly use the information she presents in her new book.
“The most important thing is not to stress out your body
through an unhealthy diet,” Jones said. “Eat
things as close to the way they appear in nature as possible. And
make sure you get enough sleep ““ there is nothing as
restorative for the body as a good night’s sleep.”
Definitely two areas most college students abuse.
 Photos Courtesy of Susan Jones Susan
Jones, fitness instructor at UCLA for over 30 years, has a
new book that teaches people how to stay healthy in a world filled
with Puzzles and In-N-Out.
In addition to helping college students, Jones often travels
across the country to give motivational speeches of the same
subject matter found in her books, informing people how to
super-tune their bodies and spirits. She frequents television and
radio talk shows in various cities around the nation as well.
In Los Angeles, she also provides one-on-one counseling as a
holistic lifestyle coach and spiritual psychologist, helping people
gain what she calls an empowered presence through living a more
healthy and relaxed lifestyle.
She also runs a business which she calls “Simply
Organized,” in which she personally visits clients’
homes and helps them to organize and de-clutter their living space,
sort of like what mommy did back in the day. Only the aim this time
is to create an environment more conducive to relaxation.
Jones, however, acknowledges that the source of stress in our
lives unfortunately runs deeper than physical surroundings.
“Many people suffer from a chronic sickness, which I like
to call business or hurry sickness. We have to slow down and enjoy
life rather than working nonstop from morning to night,” she
said.
One of the best ways to de-stress one’s life, Jones says,
is by beginning the day in a positive way rather than just waking
up and rushing off to class or work.
 Author and UCLA fitness instructor Susan
Jones heads off on a country-wide book tour promoting her
latest work, "A Fresh Start."
“There is a notion that the first 40 minutes of each day
sets the tone for the entire day, so it is extremely important to
begin the day as peacefully and happily as possible without feeling
rushed.”
Jones maintains that doing so becomes more and more important
further down the path of life.
Jones especially realized the importance in making the most of
life after a tragic car accident left her with a fractured spine
over 20 years ago. Her prognosis was a life of pain and suffering.
Within six months, however, she had made a dramatic recovery, which
she attributes to her outlook that life is a fragile thing that
needs constant rejuvenation.
“There is a great saying by Helen Keller that when one
door closes, another opens. Often we look so long at the closed
door that we don’t see the door opened for us,” Jones
said.
The open door for Jones was that of a healthy lifestyle, which
became the primary source of strength that she cites in her
miraculous recovery, allowing her to prove the doctors wrong
through sheer determination and perseverance.
So basically, Jones’s message is to just chill once in
awhile, eat right, and put on some Bob Marley or whatever else
brings that happy place. It isn’t easy in college to get a
good night’s sleep and eat well all the time, but her new
book offers many guidelines about simple things people can do to
improve the quality of life from within.
HEALTH: “A Fresh Start,” is due out
in three weeks, and will be available in UCLA’s BookZone, as
well as in bookstores nationwide. Jones is also featured in the
current issue of “Natural Beauty and Health Magazine.”
For more information, log on to Jones’ Web site at http://www.susansmithjones.com,
where information about her books and audio samples of her tapes
can be found.
