One of the greatest benefits of retirement is having more time to spend your days doing what you love, when you want. From more time to spend with friends and family, to enjoying hobbies that you’ve loved but couldn’t maintain while working and raising a family, older adults can fully embrace their interests while enhancing their health and wellness.
Keep reading to discover four ways that hobbies can help you enjoy a happier, healthier retirement.
Prevents Social Isolation
Many older adults face barriers that isolate them from their peers and communities in retirement. A great way for retirees to combat loneliness is to explore meaningful hobbies and activities that interest them. Whether it’s joining a walking group, participating in a book club or volunteering at a local food bank, many hobbies involve engaging with other people.
Improves Cognition
Hobbies play a critical role in brain activity, especially in older adults. According to the Alzheimer’s Association, seniors can help protect their brains from dementia through lifelong learning. Hobbies and activities that challenge your brain, like taking an educational class, completing difficult puzzles or learning to play a musical instrument, can prevent cognitive decline and keep you sharp as you get older.
Encourages Better Health Habits
Studies show that hobbies involving a lot of physical activity can help prevent many age-related chronic illnesses, like diabetes, heart disease, arthritis and certain types of cancer. Physical hobbies like walking, swimming, biking, yoga or gardening are great forms of movement that can help improve your overall health and quality of life. These activities can also improve balance, enhance hand-eye coordination and increase motor skills to guard against falls and other injuries.
Increases Happiness
A hobby should be an enjoyable activity that takes your mind off the stressors in everyday life and enhances your mood. When seniors find an activity that brings them joy and a sense of purpose, like volunteering or gardening, it can reduce loneliness and increase feelings of happiness. Additionally, acquiring a new skill or achieving a goal is a great accomplishment and can help increase self-esteem.
Finding the Right Hobby in Retirement
When exploring a new activity or interest, it’s important for seniors to take into consideration their activity level and what they are physically and mentally capable of. Popular hobbies for seniors include:
- Online learning or in-person educational classes
- Volunteer work
- Hiking or walking clubs
- Genealogy research
- Painting or drawing
- Gardening
- Bird watching
- Swimming
- Photography
- Learning a musical instrument or new language
Explore New Hobbies at The Oaks at Bartlett
At The Oaks at Bartlett, we offer residents the opportunity to pursue existing hobbies and explore new interests. Residents can choose what activities they are interested in, and enjoy the convenience of on-site amenities, like our indoor swimming pool, fully equipped fitness center, computer lab, arts and crafts studio, card room, library, game room and more.
Interested in learning more about life at The Oaks at Bartlett? Contact us today to schedule your tour! We look forward to meeting you and showing you around our beautiful community.