Senior Activities – It’s a Pleasure to Have Fun and Leisure!
Ladies and gentlemen, it’s time for a little fun! Senior activities are great.
Sometimes the healthiest thing to do, is to set aside time for leisure.
Let’s look at why seniors can and should enjoy recreational activities and some of the amazing benefits that come from having a little fun!
The Difference Between ‘Fun’ and ‘Entertainment’
Activities that are ‘fun’ engage your interest and make you become involved, causing many wonderful things to happen. Contrast that to ‘entertainment’, such as watching a movie. The benefits are limited, since you become less physically and mentally involved.
Some reasons to choose activities that are mentally and physically stimulating:
- Fun activities stimulate your brain.
- They can preserve and even improve memory.
- Some activities maintain dexterity and keep joints supple.
- Activities can make you feel good while you are doing the activity and hopefully that feeling will carry into the rest of the day.
- Feeling good makes you feel happy – and happiness is best and most natural ‘health supplement’ you can get!
- Focusing on an enjoyable activity takes a person’s mind off other things, creating an opportunity for a return to reality with a fresh look on things.
- Physically moving, where possible, improves blood flow to the whole body.
- Doing an activity outdoors gets double points, since you can fill your lungs with fresh air while doing the activity.
- Satisfaction is one product of making a mental or physical effort, it is something that you can’t buy for all the money in the world.
- Activities are great opportunities for socializing.
That was just whet your appetite for a good activity!
How to incorporate Senior Activities into your Schedule
Pick activities that you expect you will enjoy. Choose something that at maximum, is mildly challenging.
An activity that sits well with how you see yourself, is an activity that you will want to continue.
Use modern technology to help you choose activities that you will enjoy. There are also many really good apps available with mentally stimulating activities.
Almost any activity can be adapted to become suitable for a person’s accessibility needs. Thinking out of the box and getting outside help if necessary, has allowed many people to plan and achieve goals that they never thought they could.
What if you choose an activity and discover it was not what you wanted? It is okay to change your mind and start over.
If you can, set the activity to the same time each day or week. You could schedule with a friend to do the activity together. Then you will be more likely to keep the activity going for longer.
The next following article will put the spotlight on a few popular senior activities.
