Want a happy retirement? Here are the three essential ingredients
Exercise and a healthy diet are not enough to make your old age a happy and fulfilling time
Most people see their retirement as an opportunity to slow down from the rigours of working life. Unfortunately, for many this slowdown also brings deteriorating physical and mental health. To continue a happy and fulfilling life, the usual advice is to maintain a healthy lifestyle (exercise and diet) and to keep the brain active. While that is sound advice, the latest research says it is the type of brain activity we engage in or the type of social interaction we sustain that makes all the difference. This article examines the sorts of activities now recommended for maintaining brain health and increasing our sense of fulfilment and happiness in the “afternoon of life”, as Carl Jung called it. It turns out that activities such as reading and doing puzzles like crosswords, sudoku or other brain teasers have only a minor effect on brain health in our later years. Research shows that a particular kind of brain activity is necessary for sustaining mental health in old age, and that is ...
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