Best Mental Exercises For Seniors

As we get older, we lose muscle and our bones begin to thin. Not only this, but our brain’s cognitive function starts to wane, with the result being that we’re not quite as mentally sharp as we once were. As powerful as our brain is, it’s still susceptible to the aging process, with visible damage manifesting in the form of memory loss and an inability to solve problems with the same rigour we once had.

Performing everyday mental tasks, such as reading, writing, and counting, can eventually become a chore. There are ways to combat cognitive decline, though, and this is through a series of mental exercises.

Implementing a brain-healthy lifestyle, as you get older can enhance and maintain your brain’s cognitive reserve, keeping you mentally sharp, as you get older while slowing down the aging process. Let’s take a look at a few great mental exercises for seniors.

Use Your Imagination

Using your imagination is one of the best mental exercises you can do, and it’s also totally free. Moreover, anyone can do it.

Albert Einstein once said that imagination is more important than knowledge even: “Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there ever will be to know and understand.”

Because imagination embraces the entire world, using yours means that you are exercising your brain. Curiosity is an incredibly stimulating exercise that gets your brain working. You can imagine anything, whether it’s what you would do if you won the lotto, or what kind of world you would create if you were writing a science fiction novel.

Neurobics

What are Neurobics? Neurobics are exercises that enhance and develop our sensory perception; in other words, they flex our five senses.

For example, you could try buttoning up your shirt with your eyes closed, or you could try switching your knife and fork between your hands when eating meals. These are small exercises but the impact they have on your cognitive functioning is massive.

Learn A New Language

There benefits of learning a new language are manifold. According to the Eton Institute, learning a new language boosts brainpower, improves memory, enhances your ability to milt-task, sharpens your mind, and enhances your decision-making.

This means you don’t need to dismiss the idea of learning a new language because “you’ll never get the chance to use it.” Regardless of whether you use the acquired language or not, learning a new language has incredible benefits for your brain.

Brain Games

Online brain games tend to be free, which is awesome. As well as offering light amusement to help you pass the time, brain games enhance your reasoning speed, as well as your mental capabilities.

There are all kinds of games available online, such as math games, memory games and word games. Each of them tests your reasoning skills and offer enough mental exercise so that you feel intellectually stimulated – and maybe even exhausted! Which is what you want.

Enhance Your Hand-Eye Coordination

Taking up a new passion that requires you to refine your motor skills can enhance your cognitive abilities. You could, for example, try knitting or drawing, painting or even putting together a puzzle, such as a jigsaw. If you’re feeling super brave, you could also play video games, which also offer the chance to enhance your hand-eye coordination while having fun at the same time.

Physical Exercise

As well as the obvious physical benefits, physical exercise also offers plenty of mental benefits too. When you exercise, blood flow to your brain is increased, as is stimulation of your brain. This improves brain health.