How Creative Exercses Can Help Sustain Optimal Mental Health

As we age, our levels of memory, creativity, and overall mental health can diminish. For this reason, people of all ages (particularly seniors and elders) should strive to keep their minds' sharp.

Just like you exercise your body to stay fit you should also do creative and mental exercises to minimize future mental health issues. There have been studies done that revealed that people who learn other languages as they got older did not have problems with remembering.

When you learn another language it builds more connections in your brain. These connections act like highways transporting information from one part of your mind to another.

Building more mental connections is important as we age. Doing things to stimulate your brain power is excellent in warding off mental health problems down the road. This can significantly reduce the risks of depression, dementia, and many other associated issues.

Fresh Ideas to Keep Mind Engaged, Sharp, and Creative

Start by doing creative exercises daily but do not over do it by trying for hours at a time. The goal is not to tire your mind out its to encourage retention. So one hour a day is more than enough to be effective.

Crossword puzzles and games help a lot to keep your clarity and focus. These are easily accessible by most individuals and offer a fun and engaging way to stay mentally sharp.

Because of this increased need for mental stimulation companies such as Luminosity have arisen. This is a great tool to use to increase your retention and memory. Of course to use this you will need a computer. Many people can upload a version to their smartphone or their iPad.

Luminosity is great because it is a structured program designed by experts to increase brain functioning. It has easy to follow guides that increase in difficulty as time goes on. So if you begin an say to yourself this is not hard at all - just wait you will be challenged later on.

Try to make it a point to learn something brand new daily. This something often encouraged at retirement communities and homes with seniors. This could be something you wish to learn such as a musical instrument or it could be a skill such as cooking or driving.

Creative exercises can be simple such as painting a picture or as complex as drawing designs for a house. It can be learning a new game to play or figuring out math problems without a calculator. Doing crosswords puzzles and jigsaw puzzles work different sides of your brain. So doing both is an excellent idea.

Try each day to focus your energies on creative pursuits. Practice writing a poem or creating characters in a plot. Visit new places such as aquariums or museums to keep an interest in the area. Plan vacations to places that you have never been to. Or if you're involved in retirement community, many of retirement communities offer seniors activities and outings.

For instance, one retirement community in the Peoria area, Snyder Village, holds regular golf outings, bingo nights, and many more activities. As one of the best retirement communities in Peoria, IL, Snyder Village has a reputation for healthy and happy seniors.

The next time that you sit down at the computer do log onto Luminosity and check it out. There is much to be gained from participating in the various creative exercises.

What is important is that for every new activity you learn you are adding more connections or pathways to both sections of your brain. People that do this regularly will recover better if they do have a stroke later on. Because when they need to relearn some things the information will be accessible.