Fun ways to live longer

by | Mar 6, 2020 | Post Treatment

Fun Ideas to lighten the current Doom and Gloom

The American website Verywell has health and wellness information provided by  a team of 120 health experts, and reviewed by board-certified physicians.  It claims to reach 17 million US unique users each month.

Providing interesting and useful information, I found the current Newsletter listing  Top Tips to enjoying life was just the tonic I needed to counter floods, coronavirus et al.

So here are their Top Tips – Enjoy!

Make Exercise Play –  Getting together with neighbours for Picketball, Walking Football, Petanque – or even local tourist walking tours of your neigbourhood – can be fun.  Age UK offers many local, simple exercise classes to help maintain balance, flexibility, endurance and strength. Group games and sports can give your mind a workout as well. This is where the ‘new’ Social Prescribing plan on offer at some GP’s surgeries could help.

Frequent sex may even extend your life by years. They said it !

Relax  – Relaxation is the opposite of stress and helps our bodies to rest, heal and function better. By practicing daily relaxation techniques, you can train yourself to turn off your stress and replace it with calm energy. This will improve your blood pressure, heart rate and ability to cope with life’s challenges.
Smile  – it’s a great way to change your attitude, connect with people and give benefit to your body. Like relaxation, smiling can work to counteract the effects of stress. By forcing ourselves to smile, we “trick” our body into believing that everything is good, thereby reducing stress. Like a switch, smiling can actually change your mood. So put a smile on, even if you don’t feel like it, and pretty soon you’ll be smiling for real.
Eat dark chocolate: Dark chocolate is a wonderful food that contains ​a large amount of antioxidants that protect your body Excellence Dark Raspberry 100g This is where the ‘new’ Social Prescribing plan on offer at some GP’s surgeries could help. This is where the ‘new’ Social Prescribing plan on offer at some GP’s surgeries could help.from aging.
Find good quality dark chocolate, learn to appreciate it, and have a bit of it each day. Eating chocolate may lower your blood pressure and cholesterol while providing an energy boost.
Sleep is free and good for you.  Yes, it can be difficult especially for survivors, but if you lose out at night, try a cat nap during the day.  It didn’t do Churchill any harm – he lived to 90.

Spend time with friends and family – you may have to make a conscious effort, but Relationships are an important part of health. Not only do strong bonds with other people mean you will have help when you need it, being connected also means protection from loneliness, depression, and mental illness. Spending time cultivating your relationships with friends and family improves your health and your life.

Solve Puzzles and play brain games – they are a great way to stay involved and engaged in the world. Games can exercise different parts of your mind and entice your curiosity. If possible, choose social games like chess or bridge that exercise your brain while keeping you connected with others.

Be Positive –  I know, I know;  it’s hard to be positive when you arrive at hospital to be told your appointment is canceled.  But this might be the chance to pop into the Support Centre, or if there isn’t one, go and ask Reception what Events are planned for Patients (that should be fun!)  And if there aren’t any, think quickly and say “I’d like to suggest this hospital organises this for us…..” You never know – this could be the start of a whole new patient-friendly service at the hospital!

Enoy  – and remember many of these tips are free!