Fun Ways to Get Healthier

By Judy Kirkwood

Afraid to retire or to cut back on work because you want to stay physically and mentally healthy—and avoid becoming a couch potato with a mushy brain? There are a number of activities besides work that have multiple health benefits, which include keeping your brain sharp. Click through to find them:

To comment, click here.

Join a Choir Even solo singing in the shower raises the spirits and lowers blood pressure. But adding your voice to the structure of a choir promotes even more health benefits. Studies agree that there is a broad therapeutic value in participating in group singing – it boosts energy, for instance. Learning lyrics, harmonies, and rhythms also provides brain stimulation. A large national survey of choral singers found these positive effects as well: more focused attention and development of a social support network. Group singing alleviates depression and can reduce physical pain. Besides, performing in front of an audience motivates and empowers you.

Start a Weekly Card Game A study by neuroscientist Marian Diamond at the University of California, Berkeley, showed that playing bridge boosts your immune system – increasing levels of T cells (which fight infection) -- by stimulating the dorsolateral cortex of the brain. Bridge employs some mental math abilities, and most adult card games require plotting strategy, which is a brain workout.There are even health benefits to playing bridge and other games online, and programs for learning bridge with quizzes, tutorials, and flash cards. Beyond the brain, though, card games are a time-honored social activity. Many of us saw our parents playing cards with friends when we were growing up, and playing cards provides a link with the past as well as with our peers.

Take Part in a Theater Group If you enjoyed this summer’s great movie, “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel,” you know older actors are exciting treasures. Boomers who have always wanted to be on the stage, or to be involved in stagecraft, have more opportunities than ever, since senior theater companies have increased by over 100-fold in the last decade or so. Stimulating the brain by learning scripts is an obvious benefit, but you don’t always have to memorize lines; some performances are script-in-hand. “Playviewing, playwriting, acting in commercials, play reading groups, and using life history to create theatrical works are a hit with seniors,” according to Bonnie Vorenberg, author of “Senior Theater Connections.” Vorenberg finds that performing exercises the brain and the body, working different muscle groups and improving lung capacity. Participants make new friends in all age groups while exploding the stereotypes of “seniors.”

Learn (or Relearn) to Play An Instrument The piano and guitar are perhaps the most common instruments that boomers played in the past. If so, maybe it’s time to brush up on your skills. If not, and you always wanted to learn, do it now. You can take private or group lessons or learn online via Skyping with a teacher. Practicing improves small motor skills, hand-eye coordination, and cognitive abilities. Opportunities for performance include recitals, accompanying grandchildren with their singing or playing for church services. Playing reed instruments makes a huge health difference because of the breathing practice. Harmonica is the only instrument that makes you inhale and exhale, leading to an increase in lung capacity as well as the ability to store oxygen. The breath control that comes from practicing harmonica can help the digestive system because you are working your abdominals. It can also alleviate or prevent asthma and bronchitis. It’s cheap, accessible, portable, and wailing the blues will chase away your blues.

Go to Bingo All joking aside about busloads of gray-haired grannies descending on bingo halls, playing bingo has several health benefits: enhanced hand-eye coordination, improved eye reflexes, and a boost to cognitive abilities. In addition, studies have shown bingo can reduce stress levels and lower the level of depression associated with serious illness. One part of a study of two age groups – 18 to 40 and 60 to 82 – found that the older group performed more accurately than the younger group on some skill tests. Another study found that playing bingo could delay the onset of Alzheimer’s symptoms and significantly shorten hospital stays. It’s also a great bribe for good behavior: grandkids love a game of bingo, especially when you play for pennies, nickels, dimes, or quarters.

To comment, click here.