Cantissimo Senior Living Blog

Retirement is a time for you to enjoy yourself. Without a job or kids to take care of, you have all the time in the world to enjoy yourself with your favorite friends, family, and hobbies. To make the most of this wonderful phase of life, many seniors look to make changes to their living situation. For example, some seniors choose to downsize to a smaller house, which means less time and money spent on home chores and upkeep — and more time and money to spend on fun.

Moving gets more challenging as we age. People become set in their ways and connected to their communities, which can make transitioning to a new area and way of life difficult. For this reason, it's wise to consider your senior home care options now and prepare in advance. If you do decide to transition to a new property, doing so now will be less stressful than in the future. Learn about three popular choices for senior home care solutions and find out what to consider when assessing your options below.

Smart speakers like Amazon's Alexa have become incredibly popular with older adults. For people living alone, it's a companion. For people struggling with physical limitations, it's a great helper. Alexa can even be used to improve safety for seniors. Thousands of skills on the Alexa App are targeted specifically for older adults. And plenty of general use skills can make life easier and more entertaining for seniors. Check out a few of these ideas for using Alexa to make your day a little easier.

It may seem that the words "senior" and "technology" don't go together very well, but that's not the case anymore. More companies are making an effort to ensure there are products available for both the technologically savvy and the novices among us. Here are some tech options worth checking out.

Believe it or not, we all have pain. It is inevitable that we will cycle into and out of pain – what matters the most is what we do about it.

Even Pain Resolution Therapists experience pain. One more time, let me stress that it is what you do about it that counts. Do you mask it with drugs for temporary relief, or are you willing to correct the imbalance and dive into the root cause?

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, we have been reading about advanced directives in the news. So what are they, and do you need them? An advanced directive is a document that will tell medical staff and family members your wishes for what YOU want in the event you have a medical emergency.

Tightening your abdominal muscles to strengthen your core does not relieve chronic back pain. It is possible that this approach will even make things worse!

When you take the approach of strengthening or tightening the abdominal muscles in order to counterbalance tight back muscles, you are working against your body. It results in a co-contraction of both the front and back body muscles. This then creates a braced-liked situation that creates more layers of problems than solutions.

The breath grounds, connects, and heals the nervous system, which is why nose breathing is essential.

Did you know that right nostril breathing (RNB) has a very different and distinct effect on the nervous system compared to left nostril breathing (LNB)?

The right nostril is the energizing and heating component of the breath. It supports a sympathetic “fight or flight” nervous system response (SNS) in the body. Conversely, the left nostril is the cooling component of the breath. It supports a parasympathetic “rest and digestion” nervous system (PNS) response in the body.

When we are in a state of balance and good health, the dominant nostril that we breathe through changes every 90-120 minutes, this is known as our nasal cycle. This cycle is under the control of our Autonomic Nervous system. It regulates the balancing of the PNS and SNS in the body. When we are out of balance, this nasal rhythm becomes out of balance, which has adverse effects on our mental, physical and emotional health and well-being.

As we age, our health concerns often grow. It becomes increasingly important to stay on top of any physical or mental health concerns. And though no one can stave off illness and disease altogether, it can be easier to maintain wellness with preventive care and the assistance of technology. Read on for some ways technology can be an ally in your pursuit of good health.

Tech Tips to Maintain Health and Wellness

We’d love to share with you six pillars of health that date back thousands of years and come from the world of Ayurveda known as the medicine of yoga. 

The Six Pillars are meant to be incorporated into your daily life to help you stay healthy, vibrant, and maintain your independence. After all, this is the time of life to travel, play with grandkids, volunteer in your community, and enjoy quality time with family and friends. 

The human body/mind has some pretty basic requirements to maintain energy, proper elimination, and stress resiliency. These practices are simple and easy and will support you to feel great!

Whether you live with your grandchildren or are visiting via Zoom or other virtual meeting tools, there are many fun and engaging things that can be done with your grandchildren. These activities can be teaching experiences in many ways. Even the youngest grandchild will do well listening to your voice as you tell stories or read to them. To help get you started, here are some of my favorite activities to do with grandchildren, even if we are not in the same room: