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DANCE TO STAY HEALTHY

Dance belongs to those things that really can colorize the monotonous life of any person. Dance is good for the emotional state, psychological health and physical condition, together with feeling good and self-awareness in general. When you decide to add physical activity into your life, you try to choose something exciting and entertaining. And what could be more exciting than dances?

The dance with a good reason is called “a song of the soul” – the older a person is, the more meaningful are his or her movements, the more sense and experience it is possible to invest in the dance steps. Dance is a nonverbal way to express yourself, to process the accumulated problems, find new dimensions of the world. One should not also forget what a wonderful way to exercise are the regular!

Dancing is just a perfect way for people, irrespective of age, to keep themselves in a good shape. Dancing is not only fun and enjoyable, but also very good for health. In this article, we will tell you what kind of benefits can dancing bring to your body.

How useful is dancing for the general well-being?

- Dance protects our hearts
Dance is an excellent exercise for people who are living with a high risk of cardiovascular diseases. An Italian study has proved that people with heart failure, engaged in dancing as a kind of exercise strengthen their health, heart and improve their breathing. Their life-quality also improves significantly in comparison with those who are doing exercises on a stationary bike or treadmill.

- Dance helps to lose weight
If you attend dancing-classes regularly, they will definitely help to lose weight. The scientific research has shown that sportive aerobics based on dance movements, is as effective for losing weight and gaining of a good shape as cycling or running.

- Dance gives energy
Do you feel during the day, that you do not have enough energy? Dancing is one of the things which can help you regain it. Yet another scientific study found that weekly dancing can improve the physical condition and make adults more energetic.

- Dance endows with flexibility, strength as well as endurance
Ever and again dances require flexibility from you. Most dance classes are started with a warm-up, when people are doing stretching and suppling exercises. During the dance, you have to do your best to have all the muscle groups involved.
Dancing makes you stronger, causing the muscles to resist the weight of your own body. Many styles of dance, jazz and ballet among them, include jumps. In order to jump, your leg muscles need to be particularly strong.
It’s not a secret that dance can be called a physical exercise that is why it makes everyone more enduring. And what is endurance? It is the ability of muscles to work each time for more time without getting tired. If you’re dancing regularly, especially if you are doing some energetic style, you will be much more enduring.

How useful is dancing for the emotional state?

- Dance brings happiness
Dance is a special action which is enjoyed by any person. If you watch a dancing person, you will certainly notice a big happy smile on a dancer’s face. Smile and laughter while dancing is absolutely normal! That is because dancing provides an opportunity for real enjoyment of life and each other. Unlike other physical exercises, dancing has no age limit. A person irrespective of age can dance and take advantage of the benefits that this activity brings to his/her health.

- Dance saves from depression and de-stresses
It is proved that the dance can prevent mild depression and make a dancing person more self-confident. Depression is becoming increasingly common problem in teenagers and adults of various ages.
The research, published in the International Journal of Neuroscience, has proven that therapy that includes dance moves, not only helps to get rid of depression, but also helps to fight stress, since it regulates serotonin and dopamine levels in organism. Taking into account that dance has also a social aspect, it helps to get rid of feelings of loneliness, from which so many people in depression are suffering, and very often – elderly people living alone.

- Dance enhances the self-esteem
Dancing helps to become more self-confident. Each time you master a new movement, a wee bit of confidence is added to you and your mood gets better. And this increased self confidence extends to all areas of your life.
As we have already said, dance is a social action. Studies of specialists have proved that strong social relationships and communication with friends help to increase self-esteem and give a positive attitude towards life. Dancing gives you plenty of opportunities to meet other people. Sign up for dance classes and it will give you a chance to raise the self-esteem and make new friends. Considering that the physical exercises relieve tension and stress, dance will allow you to feel good in general.

How useful is dancing for the state of mind?

- Dance improves memory
Scientists have proved that dancing can improve memory and prevent dementia. Scientists have found that aerobic exercises help to prevent reduction in the hippocampus volume – the part of the brain responsible for memory. Hippocampus in a natural way diminishes during adulthood. This often leads to problems with memory, and sometimes to dementia.

- Dance helps to combat Alzheimer’s disease
A study involving elderly people, represented in the New England Journal of Medicine, enlightened the fact that dance frequently helps to prevent symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease along with some manifestations of dementia. Moreover, dancing makes people of any age smarter. This study also manifests that people having Alzheimer’s disease are capable to restore forgotten memories when dancing to familiar music.

- Dance makes people smarter
For centuries, books and other writings about dancing praised benefits of this activity for health, considering dance, as a rule, as a physical exercise. Today, thanks to the scientists, the benefit of dancing for the mind has been proved. The main quality of an intelligent person is the ability to make decisions. The ideal way to develop this ability – to get engaged in an activity that requires a constant fast (within seconds) decision making. Thus, to become smarter, it is enough just to work on your dance style, without having to remember the sequence of movements.

What is the best dance style?

There are many dance styles. Jazz, salsa, merengue, bachata, reggaeton, zumba, hip-hop, ballet, etc., all of which require different music. Each dance style is equally useful. Any dance gives an opportunity to live a healthy lifestyle. Dancing can help in many different things. All kinds of dance are equally effective, the main thing to choose the style that you prefer, and do it regularly, so that this pleasant activity brings benefit to the health.
During the scientific study the specific dances have been established, which have the most positive impact on the state of health of elderly people. These include: Waltz and Argentine Tango.

WINTER SPORTS: HEALTH BENEFITS

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If a person leads an active lifestyle, exercises or works out and takes care of health, the onset of winter does not mean for him or her the beginning of “winter slumber”. On the contrary, winter sports are an opportunity to diversify pretty much physical activity and even more – to improve health, and the old age is not at all an obstacle. Frosty fresh air, snow, sparkling in the sun, a company of good friends – what can be better for the pastime! Excellent mood and cheerful spirit will be guaranteed, but not less important is the impact of winter sports on health.

What an elderly person can do in winter

When it’s cold outside and the snow has piled up, then the only desire is to nestle cozily in a warm plaid in front of TV and drink hot tea with homemade pastry. But after a few winter months spent like this, you may suddenly find out that your health has deteriorated: some overweight appeared, your joints and spine start “reminding” constantly about their existence by aching pain, the blood pressure “jumps” from time to time and the heart “cuts didoes”. In order to prevent the progression of chronic diseases, and various degenerative-dystrophic changes in the body, a person, in adulthood as well, should try not to stay at home but to move as much as possible.

Winter provides excellent opportunities for this. This is skiing, sledding, skating, Nordic walking, or just walking in a snow-covered park. For a golden-ager the personal sporting achievements are not important and daily trainings are less needed. It is enough to get adequate physical exertion 1-3 times per week, which will provide a good mood, strengthen the immune system and improve health.

Skiing is traditionally very popular in many countries. Almost every elderly person is capable of taking a short walk at his or her own pace. Skiing is an aerobic kind of sports, i.e. implying the combination of the load on muscles with the intake of large amounts of oxygen. Already the first lesson has a beneficial effect on heart muscle and blood vessels: they are toned up, the blood flow normalizes. This improves performance of other internal organs too, strengthens muscles of legs, arms, abdomen, back. If an elderly person is skiing on a weekly basis, then by spring, he will feel both rejuvenated and healthier.

Sledding is another activity very useful in adulthood. Especially wonderful is when the whole family participates in it. During the down-run, coordination improves; literally every muscle is toned up, breathing quickens and deepens and the release of adrenaline happens.
Skates can be recommended to elderly people, if they previously had an experience of ice-skating, since the possibility of injury is pretty high. This kind of sports trains the muscles of the lower limbs, buttocks and abdomen, and also teaches people to quickly coordinate their movements.

In recent years, such sport as Nordic walking is gaining its popularity. You may be engaged in it both in summer and in winter. It is especially attractive because it does not require the purchase of expensive sports equipment, it is enough to buy just special sticks.

What is needed for winter sports activities?

In advanced age, it is important not to overwork and not to harm your health, so medical consultation before the physical activity is required. If you have a chronic disease, the effects of injuries and surgeries, degenerative disease at any stage, the question of the possibility of any exercise and physical activity is considered individually.

It is very important not to get excessive physical load at the very first activity, it should be increased gradually. Important is also the choice of clothes, always take into account the weather conditions. Sport suit has to be free cut, the fabric – water resistant, breathable and impermeable. You cannot stand on skis or skates right after eating, at least 2 hours should pass after it. On the cross-country skiing or sledding it is recommended to take a thermos of hot tea or mineral water without gas, to avoid dehydration.

Going in for any winter sports, it is important to monitor your health. There is no need to catch up with younger skaters or skiers, since the goal is not sporting achievements but systematic improvement of health. As soon as you feel severe fatigue, palpitations, shortness of breath or pain, you must stop the activity.

With careful attention to yourself any winter sport will bring only benefits, cheerfulness and excellent mood!

10 TIPS ON HOW TO IMPROVE MEMORY IN THE ELDERLY

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Advanced age is frequently accompanied by impairment of the memory. This happens because of a general decline in brain activity related to the age, reduction of the excitability of nerve cells, connections’ disturbances between neurons. Unfortunately, the aging process cannot be stopped and is irreversible, but to keep the clarity of mind to the very old age is for the most part in our power. Let’s talk about how to improve memory in old age.

General rules

1. Healthy surrounding conditions. It’s simple – for a good memory you need healthy functioning of the brain, and for this in its turn, it is necessary each day to maintain healthy surrounding conditions of work and recreation. Namely:

· do not work on the verge of physical or mental overstrain;
· rest every day, every week, every year;
· daily walk in the air.

2. Regular physical activity. For the good brain function a good blood circulation is needed, for which it is important to exercise regularly, to keep the muscles of the body in good shape. During physical exercises blood circulation improves, and therefore, the brain receives more nutrients. It is also helpful to walk. Useful are also anaerobic exercises, they include jogging and strength training. With regard to the age, it is best to train under the supervision of a trainer. He will help to make the training program based on your medical condition, age, experience, and past diseases.

3. Proper nutrition. For the good functioning of the brain it is necessary to eat healthy. Thus scientists have determined that in the daily diet of an elderly person fatty acids omega-3 should be present (fish is rich in them). Blueberry juice also has a positive influence on brain. It is this berry which is the most rich in antioxidants. They have a beneficial effect on the body and slow down the degradation process. Glucose intake is also important. Doctors often prescribe to elderly patients special medications with high glucose content. This component is essential for the normal functioning of memory, but with age it becomes harder to absorb it from food, so it is better to take pills. Nootropics also help to improve blood circulation in the brain. But remember that any medical products should be prescribed only by a doctor.

Tips on how to improve memory in the elderly

Aside from exercise and a special diet, what else can be done to improve memory in the elderly?

1. It is important to “load” memory. Learning a foreign language, logic tasks solving, doing puzzles – all that makes the “brain work”, that is, to remember, recall, to think. Any activity where your head has to handle a large amount of information will work in favor of your memory.

2. During each hour of work it’s important to do short breaks. You can get up, walk around the room and do some physical exercises. Thus the brain will switch from one activity to another, and it would benefit its functioning.

3. It is necessary to try to avoid stress and emotional experiences, as they lead to a loss of nerve cells, due to which reduction in attention and memory impairment occur. Chronic sleep deprivation can be referred to as stress to the body. For a complete relaxation of the brain, it is very important to get enough sleep every day.

4. A personal organizer can also help with senile forgetfulness. Now in stores there is a great variety of notebooks of different sizes and colors. Any person will find something to his liking. It is possible to record in it all the important dates and schedule actings. This will allow to “unload the head”.

5. Reading books trains memory well, because while reading not only visual memory works, but also motor memory and logical, associative and abstract thinking develop. But to improve your memory it is important not just to read, you need to do it properly, with the retelling of what you’ve read, as best of all we train our memory at the time when we recall the read! It is useful during the reading to mark the details of nature and temper of the main characters, their habits and the like. After reading a book recall all the storylines. Such memory training will benefit.

6. The peculiarity of all genius people is attention to details, when meeting a new person they can immediately see a lot of small details and remember them. Brilliant people are people with a well-functioning head, it is indisputable. Therefore, to improve memory in the elderly, it is possible to adopt this method of talented minds and to try to learn to be more attentive. To do this, you should try to look at any chosen object carefully, noting the details of its appearance, and then try to reproduce the details in your memory. Make it your useful habit.

7. There is a useful exercise to improve your memory at any age – learning poems by heart. Choose any poet interesting for you and start learning all his works by heart. And then recollect at any time.

8. People have known already quite for a long that music lessons are incredibly good for improvement of brain function. In advanced age you can sing yourself when you are alone at home or join a choir, or start learning playing some musical instrument, or you can do all together at once. Rehearsals, learning new texts, music, mastering new skills, help the brain to receive the load, which has a positive impact on the state of memory.

9. Do not forget about the psychology. Positive attitude helps to cope with any task. Elderly people are more susceptible to depression then all the others, but depression also leads to deterioration of memory. Such attitudes, as: “I am too old to learn new things,” “I am, after 30 years (40, 50, etc.) is useless,” and so forth, not only lead to the undermining of self-esteem, but also indirectly lead to memory impairment. Therefore, it is important to set yourself up correctly. Believe that life does not end in old age, but is just beginning – children have grown up, the work is over, there is a pension, it is possible live for your pleasure!

10. At any age it is useful to master the techniques and methods of mnemotechnics (mnemonics) – a science of making things easier to remember by forming associations, replacement of memorized objects and facts for familiar concepts and ideas.

The Importance of Exercising for Seniors

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Physical activity is the way to health and longevity, especially when it concerns elderly people.

It is believed that with age many people have reduced activity. This may be due to age-related negative emotions and decrease in self confidence. The lack of physical and mental activity really accelerates the aging process, therefore it is for the benefit of all people to prevent or at least reduce the effects of aging. For this purpose it is certainly worth to sharpen our focus on physical training.

Is not hard to guess, that physical activity contributes to muscle tone, maintenance of the cardiovascular system, good mood and improvement of the quality of life.

Factors affecting the change in the life balance of elderly people

Unfortunately, the factors of aging every day have a negative impact on human health. Several factors are inevitable, and they cannot be affected, but some can be controlled or even minimized.

Behavioral factor of elderly people

- Maintain an active lifestyle. Use comprehensive training programs: strength / resistance, cardio/endurance, stretching/flexibility.

- Balanced proper nutrition including the most essential vitamins and nutrients. In particular, vitamin D is very important.

- Comfortable shoes. Shoes should not be too high (a negative effect on your posture) and heavy. Comfortable, lightweight, fitting shoes provide the best contact with the ground. Even walking barefoot (not everywhere of course) becomes an excellent help

- Pay attention to reception of medications. Individual side effects are possible. Always consult your doctor as for the impact of certain drugs.

Age-related biological factor

With age loss of vision, hearing and mental clarity is possible. There is a risk of arthritis developing and deterioration of the vestibular apparatus. You may experience the appearance of any chronic disease.

Studies show that many diseases and ailments that accompany the aging process, such as difficulties with movement, can be prevented by physical training. In addition, physical activity is an excellent way to improve the quality of life and make friends. Also, regular physical activity reduces the risk of the following diseases:
• heart disease,
• stroke
• diabetes
• osteoporosis
• arthritis,
• back pain,
• high blood pressure,
• some cancers, such as colon cancer.

As a prevention of the described above diseases can serve all the same exercises and training. A competent physical activity improves endurance, strength and immune system.

Exercises help to increase muscle strength and improve their tone, thus reducing the risk of accidental falls, leading to injuries. In addition, regular physical exercises develop flexibility, mobility, speed of movements, endurance improve cognitive abilities, memory, the ability to sound judgment, well-being and quality of life.
Physical training is also new acquaintances and communication.

External factors

Try to avoid the potential dangers that surround us in everyday life. That’s a minimum list of external factors:

- Winter time. The presence of ice on the roads
- Rooms with slippery floors
- Curbs and various roughness of the pavement
- The quality of lighting in the streets and indoors
- Escalators

The task of exercises is to adapt the body to everyday loads, regulate the cardiovascular, autonomic, neuromuscular systems, strengthen the musculoskeletal system, create a good mood. All exercises should be done with a smile and best of all to the music.

The most important point to be considered in training is a balance between physical exercises. For example, between normal walking and running. Understanding the balance helps to optimize the training process and avoid unexpected injuries. This is especially important for the elderly.

Each year, about 20 percent of people older than 60 years receive a variety of injuries. Fear of injury restricts people in physical activity. This fact, and the fact of biological changes in the body, changes in the environment and the difficulties of life forms certain stereotypes. But all this can be avoided through a balanced exercise (strength training, cardio, etc.).

Nowadays almost all gyms develop various special programs for seniors. But before you start any training it is better to consult your doctor concerning the possible initial physical loads for your body.

Remember, it is impossible to stop the natural biological processes, but it is completely possible to control them, staying active at any age. Physical activity is that little thing you can do for yourself at any stage of life.
As one very wise man said: “Help your body now and the body will help you in an old age.”

Day View Adult Family Home provides qualified and affordable services for seniors. Our trained staff understands the importance of exercises and we work to create positive environment for seniors’ training.

What is Resistance Training for Seniors?

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As people grow older, the risk of falls and injuries is increasing; their muscles and joints can break down. However, there is a special training that can decrease the risk of falling. Resistance training is a special type of exercises that help seniors to build up muscles slowly, to regain muscle mass and protect joints from breaking.

Resistance training can also be called strength training. During this training seniors work their muscles through lifting weight or using exercise bands – let me put it into other words – every object that can produce resistance in the muscles is good for such trainings. For example, if your loved ones do not want to go to the gym, you can help them by training them at home, using usual gallons of milk or usual cans.

Training specialists agree that in order to get results, your loved ones should work out at least two or three days a week.

Resistance training is a great way not only to keep muscles and joints strong, but it also helps your loved ones to lose extra weight. This sport program makes the whole body strong.

Different studies have shown that resistance training positively influences not only seniors, but also people of different ages. For example, seniors over 80 years old still can gain muscle mass if they add resistance training into their daily activities. As for the women of all ages, this sport program can help to increase their bone mass that will prevent breaks.

Experts also say that resistance training influences not only physical body, but plays an important role for the inner world, world of emotions and feeling. Seniors who go info sports tend to suffer from depression less than those who do not stay active.

Encourage your loved ones to exercise regularly in order to stay healthy.