Backpack Breakthrough: Releasing the Weight of Unspoken Words

What's one thing you wish you had said... that maybe now feels too late to say?

In this episode, I explore the research behind "the backpack" — what 1,200 elders in Cornell's Legacy Project called the weight of their unspoken words, unexpressed love, and unresolved regrets. Their biggest regret? "I wish I had said 'I love you' more."

I share how my mother's death at 103 taught me to leave nothing unsaid — and why carrying that backpack isn't just emotionally heavy. It's aging your biology.

This week's invitation: Choose one regret. Express it — out loud, on paper, or just to yourself. Then let it go. Your cells will thank you.

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About the Podcast

Youthing Secrets

Defy the Aging Default and Program Your Body To Grow Younger

What if aging isn't as inevitable as we've been told? What if it's a program we can rewrite?
Four months ago, my mother died at 103. The experience left me asking hard questions — and searching for answers through science, consciousness, and real experiments I'm performing on myself.
Youthing Secrets is my journey to discover what actually keeps us young, vibrant, and radically alive. I'm not an expert. I'm an explorer — investigating the biological mechanisms that drive aging and the practices that can reverse them.
Each episode, we'll look at what ages us (hint: it's not just the candles on the cake) and what activates our body's natural youthing potential. From the stress hormones triggered by regret to the life force that flows when we're truly connected to ourselves — this is where science meets consciousness meets real life.
If you're ready to question the default aging program and explore what's possible, come along for the journey.

About your host

Kristin vanTilburg

What if aging isn’t inevitable — but a default program running in your biology that you can rewrite?

After watching her mother live to 103, Kristin van Tilburg started asking dangerous questions. Now she’s on a quest to uncover what actually keeps us young, vibrant, and radiantly alive — and she’s inviting you to join her.

On the Youthing Secrets podcast, each episode blends cutting-edge research with consciousness practices and real-time experiments Kristin is running on herself. You’ll walk away with something you can use today to release the weight that’s aging you and activate the life force that’s been waiting to come back online.

This isn’t for everyone. It’s for people brave enough to defy their aging default and activate their own youthing program.

Are you one of them?
Follow the show and let’s start youthing — on purpose.