Stress is a regular part of life for people of all ages, including seniors. However, seniors face stress in their financial and personal lives, which can make their golden years less fulfilling.
Unfortunately, stress has negative impacts on your health. For example, those who are under constant stress are 20% more likely to have heart disease.
This is why stress management is essential for seniors. Your golden years should be a time of bliss and easy living. If you’re in retirement and are still overwhelmed by anxiety, there are many stress-coping tips for seniors.
If you’re wondering how to manage stress, here are stress management tips to make retirement easier.
Cognitive Puzzles
One in four seniors experiences a mental disorder, notably anxiety and dementia.
While doing cognitive puzzles and activities may not seem like a relaxing activity, it will strengthen your mind. This “mental exercise” will stimulate the brain and can help you stay focused. Cognitive activities also serve as a healthy distraction from the daily stresses of life.
Some popular cognitive games and puzzles include crosswords and Sudoku. There are also numerous cognitive games available online, many of which are free.
Read
There’s another great activity that improves your cognitive health—reading! Reading stimulates the brain, enhancing your memory and concentration. Like in the previous section, reading is a mental exercise and serves as a healthy distraction from stress.
Nonfiction books, such as history books, are recommended to stimulate the mind and broaden one's knowledge. However, any reading material can improve your mind, including fiction, religious texts, and poetry.
Meditation
Meditation offers more than just stress relief. Daily meditation helps protect you from stressors and intrusive thoughts, allowing you to stay stress-free during your retirement. Meditation is also easy; you can meditate anywhere, and you don’t need special skills or equipment.
To meditate, sit or lie down in a comfortable position. Clear your mind and breathe deeply from the diaphragm. Only focus on your breathing.
If you’re struggling to clear your mind, focus on what’s surrounding you. Sounds are a great example; you can play meditative music or ASMR to get in a mindful state.
Breathing Exercises
If you struggle to meditate, consider practicing simple meditative breathing exercises. You don’t have to devote a specific timeframe for these breathing exercises; just diaphragm breathe regularly. These exercises also help you control your breath, calming down any panic episodes.
To breathe from the diaphragm, inhale and feel your breath go into your stomach. Your stomach will expand and your chest will rise. When you exhale, your chest will lower, and your stomach will return to its normal position.
Yoga
Yoga is recommended for seniors for many reasons. It’s a great physical activity that isn’t too intense. You’ll stretch your muscles and improve muscle strength, which helps you lose weight.
When you practice yoga with a professional, the instructor will guide you through your breathing as you stretch. This enhances your respiratory health, which also benefits your cardio and circulatory systems.
This breathing technique will help relax both your brain and body. The lack of stress will lower your heart rate and blood pressure, resulting in many benefits.
Cognitive Restructuring
Is stress all in our heads? It actually could be. This is why seniors should practice cognitive restructuring. In other words, look at a stressful situation in a different way. This helps you control your stress triggers, so even the most anxiety-inducing issues won’t affect you significantly.
If you struggle to do this on your own, don’t be afraid to seek help from a therapist. They will show you various cognitive restructuring techniques to help you manage a potentially stressful situation.
Take CBD
CBD is the latest health and wellness craze. Cannabidiol (CBD) is a cannabinoid in the hemp plant. CBD works with our natural endocannabinoid system to bring us to better health, including mental health.
While it’s not known how CBD improves anxiety, the research has been positive. CBD also improves other factors associated with anxiety, such as lack of sleep.
Keep in mind that seniors should avoid CBD vapes and certain edibles. CBD vapes can impact your lung health, and edibles can contain lots of calories and sugars. For best results, stick to taking a capsule or a tincture.
Start Writing
Simply jotting down your problems and worries can help you feel significantly better. Even if you’re not sure what’s causing your anxiety, write down your anxiety thoughts and what you think may have caused them.
Doing this puts your anxiety at the forefront, and you can find a solution.
Talk to Someone
While everyone with anxiety problems should seek professional help, opening up to a family or a friend will help you feel significantly better. Who knows, maybe they will offer advice or a solution to your problems.
Spend Time With Animals
Would you rather spend time with fur babies than humans? Spending time with pets is a massive stress release. When anxiety thoughts creep up in your mind, take your dog for a walk or go to the dog park. If you prefer cats, pet and cuddle your kitty.
This not only comforts your pet and makes them happy, but pets also offer many mental benefits to humans. Animals not only decrease stress but also ease loneliness.
What if you live in a senior home and you can’t have pets? Many senior homes are starting to bring in therapy pets. If your assisted living facility offers this, take advantage of it. If not, maybe suggest this idea or ask to visit a pet shelter on your next outing.
Stress Management Is Easier Than You Think
People of all ages suffer from stress every day, including seniors. This makes stress management difficult. With these tips, you’ll be able to control your anxiety and live out the rest of your golden years in peace.
There are different types of anxiety, such as flight anxiety. Click here to read more information about this type of anxiety and how to overcome it.
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