As you age, maintaining a healthy body and mind can become increasingly challenging. However, only by being in tip-top shape can one fully and truly enjoy all that life has to offer. Don’t worry; maintaining a healthy body and mind is a piece of cake! We’ve listed 20 hobbies you can take on to boost your mental and physical health.
Learning How to Juggle
Juggling is an activity that requires a high level of focus, coordination, balance, and attention. Therefore, according to the National Library of Medicine, this activity can induce prefrontal neural plasticity. This means that juggling helps one’s brain become adaptable and capable of learning new things; it’ll help you become better at solving problems, controlling your actions, and even making decisions.
Engaging in Physical Activity and Exercise
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advocates physical exercise and activity for brain health. Physical activity helps people learn, think, problem-solve, and improve their emotional balance. With regular exercise, people can reduce their risk of cognitive decline, which includes changes in behavior, difficulty remembering certain things, trouble learning and retaining new things, and more.
Traveling to Old and New Places
If it’s not obvious enough, traveling helps someone attain calmness and peace of mind. According to WebMD, traveling is one of the ways someone can improve their mental health. It does this by helping someone feel calm, giving someone time for a reset, improving people’s mental power, and increasing one’s creativity.
Playing Board Games
Many might think that board games are just for kids. However, you couldn’t be more wrong! Studies show board game players have a 15% lower risk of developing dementia as opposed to non-players. Aside from this, Band Pass notes that playing board games helps improve a person’s cognitive function, hand-eye coordination, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills.
Learning New Languages
Learning a new language is beneficial, no matter how you look at it. However, it’s perhaps even more so for women over 50. This is because learning a new language allows a person to keep their mind sharp. It helps with focus and attention span, serving as a buffer for your brain against aging.
Taking up a Musical Instrument
Fisher Digital Publications notes that playing a musical instrument helps with brain health. According to their study, this activity increases cognitive ability, eventually improving memory, fine motor skills, verbal and nonverbal reasoning, and more. It’s a multisensory activity that will undoubtedly benefit all women over 50.
Trying New Sports
Humans are constantly evolving. Because of this, trying new things is an excellent way to challenge yourself and gain a new perspective. Aside from the physical benefits of trying a new sport, it’s also very beneficial for your mind. Competitive Edge Physical Therapy states, “Just through learning a new sport or movement patterns, you could promote positive brain growth that typically wouldn’t change otherwise during adulthood.”
Outdoor and Indoor Gardening
WebMD considers gardening an activity that helps improve focus, concentration, and, most importantly, mood. However, beyond this, gardening also significantly benefits one’s brain health. An article published in the National Library of Medicine shows that gardening has been associated with lower levels of dementia. This is because gardening combines all the good things middle-aged people need: physical activity, social interaction, nature, and sunlight.
Trying out Photography
Photography is an activity that some mental health professionals use as a form of therapy for their patients. However, beyond this, it’s important to note that photography can also improve one’s reasoning skills and enhance one’s memory. Dan Bailey, a professional photographer, created an online video course about the topic. He said, “Photography is a very brain-influenced activity; from the decisions you make that go into creating your images to the emotional response your photos can invoke, great imagery begins and ends in the mind, and it utilizes both left and right brain components.”
Journaling and Writing
Journaling is a commonly prescribed activity for mental health issues. However, it can also help improve brain function. Intermountain Health notes that journaling helps the brain regulate emotions. It also helps keep the brain in top shape and one’s memory sharp.
Cooking
According to Prevagen, there are several ways that cooking utilizes and stimulates the brain. However, one of the most important would be how it helps with motion control and hand-eye coordination, especially when chopping or mixing ingredients. It also develops one’s multitasking and concentration skills because cooking requires multiple steps—and sometimes, many different things should be done at the same time. The third way cooking helps our brain is through our short-term memory; this goes hand in hand with multitasking, too, as you need to remember that you have a pot of boiling water on as well as something cooking in the oven.
Reading or Joining a Book Club
As we grow older, the number of things that keep our minds busy decreases; some retire from work and don’t even have to think and exercise their brains daily. This is where books come in handy. Mather Hospital says, “It can improve brain and memory function and keep your brain operating more effectively as you age. Reading also enhances connectivity in the brain, reduces stress, promotes relaxation, improves sleep, and has the potential to decrease the likelihood of developing Alzheimer’s.”
Quilting
Quilting is not only an activity that can help you pass the time, but it’s also something you can do to improve your overall well-being. For example, studies show that the colors associated with quilting are psychologically uplifting. Aside from this, because quilting can be a challenge, it demands concentration when learning a new skill.
Playing Video Games
Video games are often considered the bane of a parent’s existence because their kids can get addicted. However, according to the National Institutes of Health, a study involving nearly 2,000 children found that those playing video games for three hours or more daily performed better on cognitive skills tests than kids who never played video games. Furthermore, a study published on Frontiers in Human Neuroscience states, “During the course of a video game, the player can encounter many situations in which he has to use one of several possible actions.” Such actions include implementing an alternate strategy, solving puzzles, and more, which all fall under the umbrella of cognitive control.
Solving Jigsaw Puzzles
It’s easy to view solving jigsaw puzzles as a simple way to pass the time. However, beyond that, puzzles also reinforce the connections of one’s brain cells, thus improving mental speed and short-term memory. This activity can also improve hand-eye coordination, concentration, and focus.
Volunteering
Volunteering isn’t only doing good toward others; it’s also doing you a lot of good. UC Davis Health suggests volunteering later in life can help one battle against cognitive decline and dementia. Aside from this, volunteering makes older adults more physically active, and it increases their social interaction, too.
Pursuing Further Education
Science Daily says, “Education significantly improves mental functioning in seniors even four decades after finishing school.” This is because education has a positive influence on higher cognition. Your brain gets exercised and grows as you learn new things—be it in school or elsewhere. With higher cognition, you can think at a more advanced level.
Teaching
Teaching and learning go hand in hand because when you teach others, you also learn something new. It could be about yourself, others, or even the topic you teach your students. When you do so, you constantly repeat the same activity patterns, improving your overall neuroplasticity.
Birdwatching
In more ways than one, birdwatching can help stimulate our brains. This is because it allows us to hone our recognition skills. An article from the National Audubon Society states, “People can fine-tune their ability to distinguish among any similar-looking objects, from faces and cars to skin conditions and birds—all it takes is exposure and practice.” All birds have beaks, wings, and feathers, but not two birds look exactly alike; for example, a crow’s beak will be very different from a stork’s beak.
Armchair Traveling
Traveling has already been established as something that would stimulate brain health, but beyond that, armchair traveling is also a great way to exercise your mind. Not everyone can travel where and when they want to, but it doesn’t mean they should give up on their dreams. Armchair traveling is finding a place you’d like to visit by watching TV programs, reading internet blogs, reading travel books, and more. This allows you to exercise your brain and be more creative and imaginative.