Simple ways to stay mentally active

Whether you’re 18 or 80 it is important to keep your brain active. People who are mentally

active live longer, healthier and happier lives. Here are just a few ways to keep the grey matter in full working order:

 Social

Staying social helps to reduce loneliness, which is believed to be one of the main contributory causes of dementia. One of the best ways to alleviate loneliness is to join a club or group where people have similar interests. Local colleagues, community centres or village halls can often be a great source of information about what clubs and groups are available in your community.  

Offering your time to work for a charity or within your local community is incredibly rewarding, it can also be a great way to stay physically and mentally active. Volunteering often involves learning new skills, being part of team and meeting new people.

Due to the rise in social media and mobile technology, many people don’t regularly interact with their social circle in person or over the phone anymore. Taking the time to have a face-to-face or over the phone conversation is really beneficial to our wellbeing, meeting with others helps us to read body language, tone of voice and develops our social skills.

Finding a new hobby  

Taking up a new hobby is a great way of keeping our minds active. Gardening is a great way to keep your brain stimulated and stay physically fit. Hobbies such as knitting and embroidery require high levels of concentration and use fine motor skills, it also is also incredibly rewarding to produce a finished piece! Scrapbooking is another brilliant hobby that enables you to use your creative skills whilst putting all of your memories in one place for you to keep or give as a gift to a loved one.

Learning a new language

Learning a new language is really beneficial for brain stimulation. The internet now offers many different options for learning a new language, alongside the more traditional routes of books, videos and local college courses. There are many apps that are available on mobile devices and tablets that also help to aid with learning if you’re unable to go to classes or pay for a tutor.  

Puzzles

Puzzles are such an effective way to keep the brain stimulated and are incredibly rewarding, the internet also offers a huge variety of free puzzle sites, if you’d rather an electronic format. There are also amazing apps such as Brain Training which has been a major game that helps to stimulate the brain through different games and activities to keep your brain active.

Keeping your brain active is important at any age and can help lead to a healthier lifestyle. How do you keep your brain active? Let us know in the comments below.