The hard part of your life is over, you won’t have to get up every morning to go to work. You don’t know what activities to do in retirement? After several years of service, you are now retired.
You are wondering for some, what to do? It is not uncommon to see depression and boredom in retired people. That is why you will need to think of lots of things you could do to keep yourself busy on a daily basis and fill your free time.
How to occupy retirement? Practicing one of the activities to be done at retirement is necessary and preserves health. As you get older, notice that you find it difficult to perform certain activities and movements.
Doing an activity to take good care of your retirement is very beneficial for the morale, for the heart, muscle mass and for the respiratory system of seniors. So, in this article, you will find 10 activities that you could do in retirement to keep you busy while developing yourself.
What activities to do in retirement?
Play sports
Physical activity is very beneficial for the body and for morale. playing sports when you are retired, especially after the age of 60, allows you to ward off certain cardiovascular diseases and certain other problems such as back pain, rheumatism, osteoarthritis and osteoporosis.
But well beyond the physical benefits, playing sports will improve your morale, boost your social relationships, and reduce stress. In short, sporting activity will provide you with unparalleled well-being.
In case you don’t want to be physically inactive, skip the elevator and take the stairs, walk once in a while, commit to doing some household chores. Above all, refrain from a sedentary lifestyle.
So, find one of the best activities to do in retirement that gives you pleasure and suits you. The few tips below can help you avoid the small penalties associated with sport:
Always stay hydrated and Watch your diet
Get a health check and a stress test
Practice at your own pace and gradually
Warm up before starting a sports activity
Focus on activities that are gentle on the body at retirement
Sleep regularly, rest when you feel tired
Learn a musical instrument
Regardless of your age, you can learn to play a musical instrument and know it, learning a musical instrument in retirement is a senior hobby. which is beneficial for the brain. If you’ve always been passionate about music, now is the time to get started.
Playing a musical instrument will help you maintain and develop your cognitive abilities. Indeed, doctors recommend that seniors learn the piano, because it helps to take care of mobility, memory, but also maintains cognitive abilities.
Playing a musical instrument also stimulates memory; if you have had a stroke it is a great remedy to help regain use of speech. If you have Parkinson’s disease, learning an instrument will help you fight muscle stiffness.
It also develops your hearing giving you the ability to listen quickly and recognize notes. Learning a musical instrument is above all a great way to fight anxiety and depression. A brain connected to music builds self-esteem and calms stress.
Read
Some elderly people love to spend time in the library, because “reading actively contributes to the well-aging of the elderly” according to American researchers. Very often, synonymous with escape, reading is an activity to be done in retirement which is a source of many benefits for seniors. Know that reading develops your cognitive functions.
It helps you to keep your brain active and to maintain your mental capacities. Reading will allow you to reduce stress by transporting you away from everyday life. Synonymous with relaxation, reading brings you inner peace. It increases your skills of concentration and attention and decreases the risk of Alzheimer’s.
Learn a foreign language
The majority of seniors in France speak only one language. However, learning a new language brings you many benefits and keeps you away from the symptoms of senile dementia. Learning a language that is not yours can help you stop being bored and feeling lonely. It also allows you to be much more creative and less distracted.
Learning a new language is also discovering a new culture. This promotes the improvement of cognitive abilities and strengthens the brain. Nevertheless, it requires a lot of patience, concentration and rigor. When you learn a new language, there is a lot of stress on your brain because it has to store a lot of information. (grammar, vocabulary, phonetics, etc.) which stimulates memory and delays Alzheimer’s.
Learn To dance
Among the leisure activities for the elderly , we can also mention: dancing. It is an excellent therapy for you because it allows you to fight against isolation and loss of autonomy. This activity to do in retirement, which is dance, therefore uses all the muscles in your body.
Regularly practicing dancing fight against the problems of heavy legs, arterial hypertension, osteoarthritis, cholesterol and obesity. The choreography, the dance steps, the sequences improve and maintain the memory.
If you engage in this activity, you will notice that over time your balance will improve and you will feel more solid. This will prevent you from falling. It is also the appropriate sport for maintaining morale and an active social life and strengthening self-esteem.
There are 2 types of dance for you which are group dance and ballroom dance. To better choose your type of dance, think about the music you like and the dance steps you would like to perform.
Volunteering
In order to do a good deed and keep an active social life during retirement, volunteering in retirement allows you to socialize, get out there and change your mind and see the world. Doing good deeds will do you a lot of good.
Whether in the cultural field, in the social field or in the humanitarian field. There are many associations that are constantly looking for volunteers. We can give you a few examples. Represented mainly by the Red Cross, the restos du cœur, Emmaüs, the national society for the protection of nature.
Volunteering is therefore an opportunity for you to meet great people, make new friends and spend your days in a pleasant environment doing good to others.
To travel
Have you dreamed of visiting some tourist sites while you were still in business? Well ! Now is the time to get there. So, take advantage of your retirement to relax, to travel and go to the places of your choice, discover new landscapes, change the air, discover new cultures. Traveling during retirement allows you to:
Improve your health
Extend your social network
Feel more adventurous
Live great experiences
Open up to the world and other cultures
Disconnect from your daily routine
Traveling by car, motorhome or train will allow you to appreciate the scenery and see new things.
Doing “kitchen therapy”
Kitchen therapy is a kitchen without rules, it allows you to cook what you want without restriction of dietary restrictions.
Kitchen therapy is therefore a popular, original and fulfilling activity for retirees. The goal of this kitchen is to develop socialization, empowerment and support you in the fight against neurodegenerative diseases and addictions.
Thus, it promotes personal development and frees your mind. This friendly activity that is cooking generates pleasant memories, encourages discussion and promotes well-being.
Focus on the flavors you like and the menu of your choice, set the table when you’re done cooking. Its different stages will help you to suppress certain emotions and to have a lot more confidence in yourself. Generally, kitchen therapy is done in groups and is led by a doctor, a dietitian and a psychomotor therapist. Alone at home, you can also use recipes from a cookbook.
Spend time with family
One of the best ways not to feel lonely and to enjoy your free time is to spend time with your family. So, if you are not close to your family, from time to time you can organize family meals or dinner. Gather your children, grandchildren, brothers and sisters and spend as much time as possible with them, it’s time to establish a beautiful bond.
The conviviality and the atmosphere will free you from the routine by giving colour, structure and rhythm to your week. If you want, you can even keep your grandchildren at home and take them out for some activities every now and then. With your children, you can go to cultural events such as the theater, the ballet or the opera. You can even organize camping.
All of this is a great way to fight loneliness and allows you to always stay active so you never get bored.
Join a club
Finding a club whose activities and hobbies revolve around your area of interest will be of great benefit to you and to your well-being. You can join bridge, golf, religious group, social clubs, etc. It will depend on your motivation.
Thus, you will have the opportunity to live new experiences, to indulge in the hobbies of your choice. You will be able to meet new people interested in the same hobbies and hobbies as you and develop social relationships.
In a club, it will therefore be simpler and easier for you to break loneliness, share your common interests and chat with people belonging to the same generation as you.
