Cantissimo Senior Living Blog

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!

Have you found yourself stuck in your writing? Perhaps your pen was flying across the page, and then it seems as if, suddenly, the creativity has run dry? This experience is commonly known as writer's block. It may be discouraging and even frustrating, but you are not alone. Writer's block is a normal sensation. To help get past this roadblock in your writing, consider the following tips!

     10. Freewrite

Freewriting can be extremely helpful to plow through writer's block. The idea is to set a time limit (we recommend starting with 5 or 10 minutes) and just write. It does not have to be on the topic you were writing about before or even make much sense. Just get words and sentences on paper. This has been known to help inspire new ideas or get past those that were holding you back. Some of the most significant issues with writer's block are self-criticism and doubt, which prevent you from putting pen to paper in fear of anything you write being unworthy of saving. Sometimes, it helps to see it on paper, progress, and you can always go back and edit later.

Finally, you are retired. Now you have all the time to accomplish anything you desire without worrying about official duties. But did you plan for this? Have you prepared a bucket list of things to do? And then what's next after you accomplish everything on your to-do list?

Do you want to enjoy the coming years to the fullest? Too many fall prey to a retirement trap of repeating the same routine, failing to experience new things, and ultimately suffering from boredom. If you are among those who want to lead an exciting life after retiring, then you are in the right place! However, sometimes things don't go as you may have planned. You might be faced with financial setbacks or any other reasons that spoil your plans. And it's at this point where boredom creeps in.

Many become frustrated and even depressed for not being able to accomplish their goals. Regardless of the situation you are in, it is important to note that boredom presents a serious health risk.

Age 55 seems to be a life milestone when many think more seriously about future eventualities like retirement or moving out of the family home. The latter can be driven by many motivations:

• The existing home feels too big once the kids have moved out
• Home maintenance has become overwhelming
• The neighborhood has turned over, and old friends have moved away
• The current multi-level home has stairs that will become a concern with age
• A change in health status that makes the current residence impractical
• The local climate forces consideration about a place with better weather
• A desire to be closer to family

Questions to Ask

No matter the reasons, the decision to move can only be made after certain questions have been answered.

"My son, be steadfast in honoring your father; do not grieve him as long as he lives. Even if his mind fails, be considerate of him; do not revile him because you are in your prime." (Sirach 12-13).

Dementia stands out as a signature affliction of old age throughout human history. Defined as symptoms linked to loss of memory and thinking skills, dementia takes several forms, with 60-80% caused by Alzheimer's disease. Yet, it is not considered to be a part of normal aging.

Some moderate cognition changes are expected with age, but these do not lead to loss of independence. However, more serious cognitive decline can produce symptoms like rapid forgetting, navigation impairment, inability to solve everyday problems, or difficulty holding ordinary conversations.

Nevertheless, age is strongly correlated with dementia. One estimate shows only a 1.7% prevalence of dementia among those 65-69 years old. But with a doubling of new cases every five years, dementia incidence grows to over 50% by age 90.

Do you know of a medicine that is available at zero cost and attainable almost all the time? You heard us right; it is called laughter!

Laughter contributes to a sense of well-being and encourages you to have an optimistic outlook in life. It leads to a more relaxed state of mind and helps you focus on the positive outcomes of a situation. Laughter allows you to connect to your loved ones and bring an excellent mood to yourself and the people around you. It is true when people say that your attitude affects your body, mind, and soul.

Laughing with your friends, or even on your own, not only has mental but many physical advantages as well. Doctors across the world have suggested that the best, and often, the easiest way of dealing with an issue is to crack a joke and laugh. There is much more depth to this claim, and we will learn more about it as we go on!

Resolve Pain Guru has been teaching classes called SomaYoga Nidra. It is a blissful combination of somatic movement re-education (moving meditation) followed by a deeply restful guided Yoga Nidra practice. It really is an intelligent combination to support nervous system recharge.

As mentioned in our recent blog post, Six Ingredients to Optimal Healing – it is important to counteract chronic nervous system over-stimulation and the effects of stress in order to stay healthy.

Turning our Attention Inward

The most recent class was on clearing the external clutter and excessive sensory stimulation that occupies our minds, leading to agitation, tension, and pain in our somas. The class practices shifting our sensory awareness from external to internal.

As we practice turning our attention inward, sensing, and feeling (known as Pratyahara in yoga), we begin to release the accumulated sensory impressions that show up in our somas. This process results in a quieting of the mind, a calming of the nervous system, and a release of muscular tension that keeps our brains racing with agitation and dis-ease.

Finding meaningful ways to maintain mental fitness is important at any age. Experts say that adults can learn a new language in less time due to their knowledge and experiences that help to make associations. It has also become easier to learn a foreign language with advanced and modern technologies available. Learning a new language is an exciting retirement hobby at any age and unlocks great new opportunities: 

     1. Learning Keeps Your Brain Active and Healthy

Bilingualism has a direct relationship with dementia. Researchers say that people who speak two or more languages have a decreased chance of developing dementia. This is because switching from one language to another activates the areas of the brain responsible for executive functioning. This area is also responsible for completing tasks. Studies show that utilizing this part of the brain can decrease cognitive decline and delay the development of dementia.

Learning a new language in retirement can help exercise the brain and improve brain health. The brain needs exercise at any age. Learning new words every day or learning a new language can functionally and structurally change the brain. It helps to make it more efficient and flexible.

How well do you listen to your body? And how do you talk to your body? Did you know that the language you use and how you relate to your body really matters?

Dr. Joe Dispenza describes thoughts as electric. Your thoughts create feelings that affect the electromagnetic field around you. 

Have you come across Sudoku puzzles in newspapers or the internet and tried solving them? Or do you ignore and flip the pages? Well, there are a lot more benefits to trying to solve them than you have likely imagined. For instance, they are good exercises for the brain because they keep you entertained and, at the same, improve your thinking capacity. Research has shown that a population of older adults that enjoy playing Sudoku has a mental ability equivalent to that of an almost ten-year younger generation. The benefits are so vast, and practicing the puzzles can help you with overall mental health. In this article, we will look at the benefits and tips of playing Sudoku.