Influences Of Mindset And Routine For Healthy Aging

How you can expand your mindset as you age

As people grow older, they are often consumed with how their bodies are changing physically. What they don’t pay enough attention to is the state of their minds. While you may notice that your memory is lacking, or that you tend to be more negative and pessimistic, there doesn’t seem to be the same urgent desire to find a remedy.

It’s important to improve your mindset as you grow older so that you can focus on the things that bring you happiness and joy. Here are some mindset ideas that can help.

Begin by letting go

This can be one of the toughest parts of changing your mindset, but it’s also an important one. You must let some things go. If you have a lot of demands in your life that create huge amounts of stress and negative thoughts, it’s time to determine if it’s worth keeping them in your life or not. This could mean you jettison some career demands by delegating certain tasks or saying no to people who ask too much of you.

Or perhaps letting go for you means removing pressure from yourself thus allowing more time to practice self-care.

Look for additional clarity

When you first begin improving your mindset and being a more positive, happy person, it sometimes takes a while to figure out what that means for you. If you are still puzzled about what needs to change in the way you think and understand things in your life, it’s time to find some clarity. If you don’t already, you may want to start a journal for this, since you can write with honesty about anything you are thinking about, and over time, begin observing the patterns of your thoughts. You recognize what your goals are, what you feel like you are missing, and what situations tend to cause your mindset to shift.

Express your gratitude

Being grateful for the blessings in your life is a simple way to begin shifting your mindset. It instantly helps you to think more positively about things and people in your life, and temporarily sets aside your negative thoughts. It’s difficult to think negatively when you are being grateful and thinking about the people in your life who bring blessings and wonderful things.

Your gratitude can be for your job or your home, your pets, people you love, or simple things like how comfy your bed is or that delicious morning cup of coffee.

Positive affirmations

One last tip for improving your mindset as you age is to use positive affirmations. These might seem silly, but when used on a routine basis, they hold a lot of power. A positive affirmation is a thought or phrase that is positive, uplifting, and hopeful. It can help you maintain a good mindset throughout the day.

Positive affirmations might be “I will have a great day” or “I can achieve anything”, but they can also be more specific with something you are dealing with, such as “I am strong enough to accomplish my goals/dreams”.

The value of your daily routine

Daily routines and habits are more popular than ever before, not because they are a new concept, but because of the benefits to your physical health and mental wellbeing. As you age, no matter what age you are now, it becomes even more important to have a daily routine with habits that are designed to keep you healthy and happy. Here are some advantages of having a good daily routine.

Routines stimulate enhanced mental health

You can have a daily routine that allows you to enhance your mental health. For example, you might include a session of meditation or adding mindfulness to your morning or nighttime routine. This helps you reduce stress and can help with mental health disorders like anxiety or depression. Remember that your mental health can decline rapidly if you aren’t vigilant.

You live a healthier lifestyle

When you maintain a set routine with habits you participate in daily, it can help balance out your life and ensure you are living a healthy lifestyle. Many people choose to add certain activities that help them improve their health, such as cooking breakfast, doing yoga in the morning, writing in their journal, or having a nighttime routine that allow them to get better sleep.

To be a healthy older adult, you need to begin immediately, regardless of your age at present.

Balanced living is happier

With a daily routine, you can concentrate more on balance in your life. It helps you to schedule certain events and activities along with your responsibilities. You decide what your priorities are. Making time for reading, relaxing, creative activities, getting enough exercise, and eating right. In other words, doing everything you need to do to improve your health and wellness.

Routines that increase your sleep

Sleep is crucial for everyone, but unfortunately, older adults find that they have more difficulty sleeping. There is a joke that older adults often sleep only a few hours a night, or that they wake up early for the “Early bird special”, but this isn’t because as you age, you need less sleep. It is more that you have a tougher time sleeping soundly throughout the night.

If you have a daily routine that includes exercise as well as a restful and relaxing nighttime routine, it helps a lot to increase your quality of sleep.

My final thought

We live at a time where most of us have access to the information we need to be healthy agers. It is up to us to use it or not. As for me, I do my best every day to stay healthy and to be happy. Shouldn’t you?

Thank you for reading this post. I hope you enjoyed it and will share it with the people you care about.

Healthy Aging, Do What Makes You Happy

Gram’s Wisdom 26 Choose the things that make you happy

I never knew a time when my gram wasn’t actively doing something. 

Gram hadn’t been a stay-at-home mom. She had been the breadwinner for her family of six children during the depression and was still employed outside the home all the years of my childhood.

We would go shopping and to the movies. She loved music and always had the radio on in the kitchen. It provided the perfect background to the cooking lessons she would give me.

Gram loved to travel and would get on a plane at the drop of a hat. She took her last trip alone at 96 to visit an uncle.

You can enjoy your life at any age, so don’t let the fact that you are middle-aged or a senior adult, keep you from the activities you want to pursue. Choosing things you love to do helps keep you active and brings a lot of happiness into your life.

Did you have favorite pastimes you can take up again?

What are some activities you used to love doing but haven’t done in a while? Think about what you used to find a lot of joy in, such as crafts, watching certain types of movies, a form of exercise, going to a certain fun place in your area, or spending time with people you haven’t seen in a while. Even if you can’t do the exact activity, it might lead you in the right direction. For example, if you used to knit a lot, but have stopped because of arthritis, it at least tells you that your soul might be missing a creative activity or a type of craft. Think of some other similar activities that won’t hurt your hands as much, but still bring you a similar emotion.

What have you always wanted to do?

Another way to find new activities for your mental and physical health as you age is to consider what you have never done before but always wanted to try. You of course want to consider any limitations you currently have, but I bet there are many activities you can get involved in that you will fall in love with and are brand new to you.

This might be going on a hike with a friend, trying indoor mountain climbing, or learning a new craft or hobby. Maybe you have always wanted to teach someone your favorite hobby or mentor people in your skillset. There is no better time than now!

What about a bucket list?

This probably isn’t the first time you have heard the term “bucket list”, but if you have never had one, nor focused much on the one you already have, there has never been a better time to revisit the idea. A bucket list is simply a list of things you want to accomplish in your life. These can be places you want to visit, friends you want to catch up with, interests you want to pursue, or things you want to accomplish in your life.

Everyone has a different bucket list and a different reason for having one. As you age and into your later years, it is a great idea to work on your bucket list. It helps you to focus on your goals, expand the fulfillment in your life, and enjoy life for what it is.

Begin with your passions

To start working on your bucket list, think about what your passions are. What activities bring you the most joy? What do you turn to when you have a day off to do what you want? What is your favorite form of self-care?

The answers to these types of questions usually lead to your biggest passions in life. Maybe when you have a weekend off, you enjoy going on a road trip because you love to travel. Or you are someone who enjoys having family over whenever you get the chance. Or maybe your favorite activities are creative ones, like drawing, writing, or creating something at home.

Think about your passions, then think of what aligns with them, that you have always wanted to do, but haven’t had the opportunity yet.

Don’t put it off any longer

This is the easiest way to start working on your bucket list. Think of things big and small that have been on your “life bucket list” that you haven’t yet done. Maybe there is a place you want to travel to, an activity like skydiving or scuba diving you always wanted to try, or a local event you seem to miss every time, that you want to make a point to go to.

Your bucket list is personal to you and may include a wide range of things as small as books you want to read, to big things like owning your first house or buying a new car.

How to begin crossing items off

Once you have collected a list of things you want to do, begin figuring out what you can do soon, and what will take more planning to accomplish. This might include some type of research, saving money for a trip, or finding a friend to do a certain activity with you. Pin your list to your wall, put it in your planner, and focus on crossing items off your list.

My final thought

Gram and I were fortunate that in her last years we became best friends. Like any best friends, we shared a similar love of music and attended concerts together. I bought CD’s for us to listen to. We watched our favorite movies together on Friday nights. I cooked the meals she loved that she had prepared for me, many years ago. We read some of the same books so that we could discuss them. I don’t know if these were on her bucket list, but they were certainly on mine.

I hope you enjoyed this post. Please share it with your family and friends.

Healthy Mind And Body Habits Increases Happiness

Improve your overall health

When you are improving your daily routine to be happier and more fulfilled as you age, you must consider your mental health. From reducing stress to changing your mindset, your mental health should be given just as much care as you give your physical health.

Consider adding these daily habits to your routine for improved mental health.

Healthy stress relief

Stress affects everyone at any age, but it can take an even bigger toll on you as you age. Stress affects your mental health just as much as your physical health, so you must get a handle on it right now. You should add some stress-relieving pursuits to your normal routine.

Several ideas for activities include:

·         Yoga or another form of exercise in the morning

·         Writing in a journal

·         Reading your favorite kind of book

·         Finding a relaxing hobby that takes your mind off your stress

·         Spending time with loved ones

Don’t isolate yourself 

It seems easy to stay indoors and keep to yourself as much as possible, especially if your mental health is struggling, but this makes it even more important that you socialize. Even if that means inviting people over to your home where you feel comfortable or meeting once a week with a friend to have coffee. You need to get out of your normal surroundings. This can help with anxiety, stress, and depression. It helps you to build a solid foundation and gives you a healthy thing to add to your routine.

Combine activity and engagement

While exercise and staying active is great for your physical health, including maintaining good cardiovascular health and even preventing certain diseases, it is also amazing for your mental health. With simple exercises like yoga or walking, you can boost your endorphins to put you in a better mood, give you more energy, and help relieve anxiety.

An active lifestyle and engaged mindset will ensure you are doing everything you can for both your body and your mind. This is going to help a lot with happy, healthy aging.

Have a helpful mental and emotional support system

Lastly, you want to have a helpful support system in your life for your mental and emotional health. This can be different for different people, but it might include having a counselor or therapist, a close group of friends you can spend time with when you need to, or a relative who understands your mental health issues and is always receptive to your needs.

Improving your physical health

It’s an uphill battle to improve your mental health if you’re physically a wreck. Your mind and body are made to work well together, however, the breakdown of one can lead to the breakdown of the other.

Introduce these habits into your routine to help improve your physical health as you age.

Eat nutritious, balanced meals

I know, I know. You need to watch what you eat. It seems that everyone is on some kind of diet these days. But this isn’t a strict diet where you are cutting out entire food groups or trying to eat a diet of kale and salmon. While those are healthy choices, eating a balanced diet is more about what you add in, not what you take out.

Start by making small changes. Adding in more fruits and vegetables, whole grains, dairy, lean protein, and drinking lots of water. When you eat a nutritious diet, you stay healthy and can help reduce the risk of certain age-related diseases.

Add movement into your life as frequently as you’re able

For your physical health, you also want to get routine exercise. Again, you don’t need to put too much pressure on yourself to spend hours at the gym or run a marathon. Regular exercise a few days a week is all that is necessary unless you have more specific fitness goals.

Consider forms of physical activity that you enjoy and will make you happy. You should be excited about your exercise, not dread it. For you, this might mean a yoga class with your friends, going for a walk or riding a bicycle, or doing workouts at home on your treadmill or with a kettlebell.

Emphasize preventive care

Remember that a lot of your physical health comes down to what you do before you get diseases or become unhealthy as an older adult. Emphasizing preventive care is crucial, so even if you’re perfectly healthy now, you still need regular doctor visits.

Your doctor can typically discover things earlier, which allow you to get proper treatment and make needed adjustments to your lifestyle. This will improve your health, and ultimately your happiness as you age.

My final thought

I am happily moving forward into some of my best years. The reasons for this are the healthy mind and body that have reliably carried me through many years. I am strong, my mind is clear, and I haven’t even had a cold in more than 5 years. From the time I was a young girl, my Gram reminded me often that your health is your wealth. It’s not too late to begin making your improvements, to have happy, healthy aging.

I hope you liked this post and will share it with your family and friends.