Boosting your mental health, staying in shape, and feeling years younger are just a few benefits of staying active as a senior. However, many older adults fail to exercise their brains and bodies, leading to constant tiredness and depression, and puts them at a higher risk for certain health issues.
If you or your loved one wants to live their life to the fullest, it’s time to get the blood flowing! Whether you walk around the block or play board games with your friends, staying active mentally and physically can do wonders for your health!
Keep reading to learn about what an active senior is, some fun ways to stay active, and how an assisted living community can help.
What It Means To Be an Active Senior
An active senior refers to older adults who enjoy staying active, whether it’s an exercise routine, reading, or playing bingo with friends. Active seniors like to engage their minds and body.
When people get older, they’re afraid their families will “put them away” in a nursing home or force them to join a community where seniors sit around all day and do nothing. This isn’t the way of life for active seniors who still enjoy many activities, and they also like living independently with a thriving social life. Luckily, if seniors don’t want to live in a standard apartment or home, there are several assisted living facilities where staying active is the main focus.
5 Hobbies for Active Seniors
Seniors love to stay active! With so many hobbies and activities to enjoy, seniors worldwide live very active lifestyles.
Whether you want to engage your mind, body, or soul, here are some of the top ways older adults can stay active:
Gardening
Have you ever wanted to grow your vegetables? Want several beautiful flowers in your backyard? Gardening is a great way to keep an active mind and body, and you can even save money on produce! Also, being outside in nature can do wonders for the mind. Smelling the fresh flowers, enjoying the sunshine, and even spending time with others are a few leading benefits of gardening.
Tight on space? Consider container gardening to practice your green thumb. This hobby uses containers that can be placed on patios, in window sills, or around your home to grow plants and vegetables.
And if you've failed your house plants in the past, don't let that discourage you from trying something new! Learning new skills is a great way to engage your mind throughout your life. Try one of these low-maintenance house plants to get started.
Painting & Drawing
Painting and drawing create a world of possibilities. Not only can you show your creative side, but you can exercise your brain and spend quality time with friends, loved ones, or even the grandkids! Whether you enjoy painting, drawing, making crafts, fiber art, sewing, quilting, woodworking — or even designing digital art — these are great for your health and well-being, keeping your brain sharp. Painting and drawing are also activities you can enjoy any season, any time of day!
Hiking
Getting your body moving, experiencing the gorgeous scenery, and smelling the vibrant wildflowers are just a few benefits of going for a hike. This activity is excellent for your health, both mentally and physically. Also, anyone can join! Even if you can only hike for 15 minutes on an easy trail, hiking is a great activity for your body and heart. Some seniors even choose to make multi-day backpacking trips through the mountains! With so many places to go and challenges to conquer, hiking is the perfect way to stay active as a senior.
If hiking sounds a little intimidating, start by taking a walk on a local trail. There are many city, county, and state parks as well as nature preserves to explore! Make it a family affair, or start a walking group with your friends. Walking and hiking can also be great solitude activities to clear you mind and relieve stress — but if you go out along, make sure to let someone you trust know where you're going and when you expect to be home!
Yoga
Get your blood flowing with some yoga today! Seniors worldwide enjoy this activity as it's easy on the body, soothes the mind, and helps your worries drift away. If you’re dealing with pain or mental health concerns, yoga can be beneficial. Yoga also helps build muscle, improve flexibility, and create better balance. Furthermore, yoga is a great activity to experience with friends.
Writing
Writing is perfect for keeping your brain active, whether it’s a poem, memoir, or just writing down your thoughts. Also, writing is a helpful tool for remembering things, from reminders about appointments or tasks to writing about your cherished memories with friends and family. As our memory can decline as we age, it’s essential to find ways to hold onto our most precious memories. While having videos and pictures can help, writing things down can be even more beneficial while boosting your creativity.
Who knows, you may become a famous author yet! Great writers like Toni Morrison, Mark Twain, J.R.R. Tolkien, and Raymond Chandler all got their big break later in life.
How Senior Living Helps Seniors Stay Active
Senior living communities of all kinds, even those that offer skilled nursing services, have activities calendars and coordinators to ensure residents can engage their minds and bodies. An active senior living facility has activities and hobbies geared for the active senior. You may find swimming pools, pickleball courts, bingo rooms, and even art studios. These communities also host events and gatherings for everyone to get together. As many seniors enjoy exercising, playing games, and engaging their minds, active senior living communities cater to those needs!
But having access to various activities is only the beginning. Senior living communities offer a space for those in a similar age group to connect. One major concern for seniors who want to stay in their home as long as possible is isolation — even when friends and family visit often. Seniors need their own peer group, just like everyone else! A community with great activities gives seniors a chance to exercise their minds and bodies while making new friends. We're also more inclined to participate in activities if we know our friends will be there!
Staying active, both mentally and physically, can help seniors live longer, healthier lives. By joining an active senior living community, you can enjoy fun hobbies and activities with like-minded people.
