A Positive Mindset: 4 Lifestyle Adjustments for Seniors to Improve Their Mental Health

We hear all the time how positivity can affect our perspective in multiple ways. People with an enthusiastic outlook on life have a healthy view of their future. This becomes more important as we get older since our minds start to change in terms of our overall mental health. This is especially true for seniors, who may develop memory issues and other concerns.

While it’s certainly recommended that anyone with larger issues seek proper medical care, older adults can make some simple changes that can benefit their mental health. Some of these don’t even cost a penny. Whether in a retirement home or doing independent senior living, here are four ways that seniors can adjust their lifestyle and improve their mental health.

1. Implement Low-Impact Exercise

You don’t have to lift weights or run miles around your neighborhood to get a healthy workout. These are high-impact exercises that can hurt your joints and put physical stress on your body. Instead, adding a low-impact exercise into your schedule is one of the best lifestyle adjustments that older adults can make to improve their mental health.

It’s essential to make this adjustment sooner rather than later. With the Center for Disease Control estimating that 20 percent of adults age 55 or higher experiencing some aspect of mental health concern such as cognitive impairment or mood disorder, it’s highly recommended to implement a daily, low-impact exercise into your life.

There are multiple examples of low-impact exercises that not only improve your mental health but also boost your blood flow and help relieve back pain. These range in variety, such as:

• Exercise walking

• Water aerobics

• Yoga

• Elliptical machine

• Stationary cycling

Try out each of these low-impact exercises and see if they help improve your mental focus. You may see improvements in your overall mindset sooner than you think.

2. Choose a New Creative Hobby

Artistic activities are how we emphasize our creativity to our community and our loved ones. It’s also how we express elements of our personality. Pursuing a new creative hobby can have significant benefits for your mental health, as it helps you relax and focus more time on yourself.

Taking part in activities to spark creativity, such as painting, gardening, or learning a musical instrument, may increase positivity and expand neural connections. Cooking is also another hobby that is sometimes overlooked in terms of its creative aspects. If there’s a new diet that you’re on for health reasons, then trying new recipes is a fun activity that can be rewarding in terms of delicious dishes that you’ve created.

Creative activities are also important for one particular reason: they may release more dopamine, an organic neurotransmitter within your brain that affects mood and motivation. Dopamine is an excellent stimulant for mental health.

It’s never too late in life to try a new hobby–especially one that emphasizes your inner artistry. Creative interests are a great reason to pick up a new pursuit and get your mind focused in a healthy way.

3. Play Brain-Energizing Games

Exercise can help our minds through physical workouts, and new hobbies can aid our mental health by emphasizing our creativity. However, to really stimulate our minds, playing games that invigorate our brain is an excellent option for seniors.

Brain-energizing games for seniors can include everything from traditional board games to recreational websites that are customized to fit your brain’s specific functionalities. These different games challenge the brain in their own ways, helping with memory and problem-solving skills.

For board games, you can try:

• Jigsaw puzzles

• Crosswords

• Word search

• Sudoku

These are all excellent options that test the brain’s mental agility. It’s important to note that these board games can be played by yourself, or with a friend or relative.

If you’re looking for a more personalized option, then you can go the digital route. There are numerous game-oriented sites out there that also have digital apps. You can then engage in fun, imaginative games which enhance your mental focus. Dakim is one brain fitness site that offers users more than 100 mental health exercises. These games are dedicated to helping with concentration and attention.

Lumosity is another brain exercise site that has over 50 brain fitness games. This website provides a customized plan for its users after they download the app and sign up. It sends a daily set of fun games that can improve memory and focus. With activities ranging from designing mosaics to unscrambling words, Lumosity can help keep your brain energized.

4. Pick Up Volunteer Work

Volunteers are one of the most valued members of our society. People who take time out of their schedules to help with social causes or those in need have supremely kind hearts. If you’re physically able to do so, adding volunteer work to your schedule can help more than just the person or organization. It can have mental health benefits for yourself.

Volunteering for others can help reduce levels of stress and keep you mentally focused. It can help you forge connections with others as you’re doing meaningful work for those less fortunate. It may even enhance your self-confidence with the helpful aid you’re giving.

You can choose with foundations you wish to support in order to give your time to the causes for which you personally advocate. In addition, you can select precisely how much of your time you want to volunteer with the cause or foundation you’re assisting. This lets you add a bit of customization to your volunteering schedule.

No matter which type of volunteer work you choose, it can help those you aid and your own mental health. It can give you an added sense of purpose while vastly invigorating your mindset.

As we get older, we need more mental health stimulation to keep our brain focused and our memory intact. Each of these recommended ways are effective areas in which we can maintain our cognitive abilities and find new methods to enhance our brain functionality. With these four tips, you can energize your brain and look forward to a new perspective.

About the Author

Jennifer Bell is a freelance writer, blogger, dog-enthusiast, and avid beachgoer operating out of Southern New Jersey. She frequently works with many home services and lifestyle brands, such as plumbing repair and independent senior living.