Keeping an active mind is an important part of overall health and well-being. A day filled with activities and stimulation helps protect you from mental health problems like depression and anxiety, and can stop you from becoming withdrawn. It can even lessen symptoms if you’re managing other health conditions.  

So what are the best activities to keep your mind at its best? Well, there’s lots of advice out there, from doing regular ‘brain training’ puzzles like sudoku to eating a Mediterranean diet. But what’s going to have the best results? 

At Linc, we have loads of experience in helping the residents of our nursing homes around Cardiff to keep their minds healthy and active, so we asked our very own Flor Nessbert for some advice. Flor is the activities coordinator at our lovely Penylan House nursing home in Cardiff, so she sees the results every day when our residents keep busy and engaged.  

Here are our top tips for keeping an active mind: 

1. Try something new 

When you learn a new skill or take up a new hobby, it’s like a workout for your brain. Learning new things builds new connections in your brain and helps to reduce or slow down cognitive decline. Why not try a craft activity that you’ve always fancied, learn a new language, or have a go at a new game or sport? 

Whenever you give your brain a challenge, you’re helping to keep your mind active. 

2. Get active to keep your brain alert 

Surprisingly, moving your body can help to keep your mind sharp. It’s because exercise gets the blood pumping around the body, taking more oxygen to the brain and even encouraging new blood vessels to grow there. 

A little physical activity during your day will also boost your mood, and keep your sleep patterns regular too. Both of these make a positive difference to your brain function. 

Don’t worry, exercise doesn’t have to be intense to give you a benefit, any sort of movement is good for you. So if you don’t feel like climbing Pen y Fan today, take a stroll in the sunshine, do a little gardening or dance to a favourite tune.  

Our residents in extra care schemes; Maesyffynnon and Cwrt yr Orsaf love to have a go at seated netball (invented by our very own scheme manager Hazel Davies) to keep active. Even everyday tasks like housework can give you a workout, so don’t worry if you’re not the sporty type. 

3. Be creative to motivate your mind 

Creativity is a wonderful way to engage your mind. There are lots of different activities to enjoy, from getting arty with paints, to being hands on with clay. Maybe you enjoy sewing and needlecraft, woodworking or creative writing? Whether it’s an old hobby that you’re developing further, or you’re exploring a new activity for the first time, creativity is good for keeping an active, healthy mind. 

4. Engage the intellect to keep your brain functioning 

Learning about new subjects and challenging your ideas is an ideal way to keep your brain active. At our nursing homes in Newport and Cardiff we invite speakers to share their specialist knowledge on all sorts of interesting topics. It helps our residents to stay engaged with their interests and stimulates their brains.  

There are other ways to exercise your mind, too. If you love the cut and thrust of an argument, why not join a debate club? If fiction is your thing, try a book club to discover authors and genres you haven’t read before, ready to discuss them with friends. 

Challenging yourself intellectually is a great way to keep your brain function on top form, so go and find out more about the subjects that have always interested you, discuss current affairs, or puzzle over cryptic crosswords. Just like a muscle, when your brain works hard, it stays in better condition. 

5. Get reminiscing 

There’s nothing like the warm glow that comes from remembering happy events. Reminiscing about times past is a great activity to get your brain going, and there are lots of ways to do this.  

Looking at old photographs and singing favourite songs are fun ways to start a trip down memory lane, but did you know you can involve all your senses, and even your whole body, too?  

Think about recreating a day at the beach to get those memories flooding in. And if you can’t get to the coast, use a sand tray to wiggle your toes and dip your feet in a paddling pool to relive the sensory experiences. And of course, it wouldn’t be a day at the seaside without a cornet and a flake, so indulge in an ice cream, too! 

When happy memories bubble up to the surface, your mind is active and alert. Share your experiences with a friend to enjoy them to the full.

6. Stimulate the senses 

Use lights, sounds and textures to engage all your senses. Our residents at our Cardiff nursing homes enjoy specialist sensory experiences with motion-activated interactive projectors. They’re ideal for all sorts of activities, games, relaxation, and stimulation, so they’re a great resources to access sensory experiences even without going out. 

There are lots of other ways to awaken your senses – enjoy a bit of pampering with a spa day, at home or away, where you can experience a foot massage, a facial or a manicure. Breathe in the scents of the essential oils and feel the texture of a fluffy bathrobe to get all your senses engaged and help keep your mind active. It’s something our residents enjoy, and it’s easy to recreate at home, too. 

7. Find a friend 

Whatever to choose to do to keep your mind active, try doing it with other people. Getting together with a chum is a great way to stimulate the brain, so however you like to keep your mind at it’s best, get social while you’re doing it.  

Social interaction plays a big part in keeping your mind active, so seek out friends and relatives, and meet new people – it’s a great way to keep your mental skills sharp. Activities that keep your mind active can be anything from getting competitive with sports and games, sharing an interest like crafting, gardening or walking, or just enjoying a cuppa and a chat.  

Why not get involved with intergenerational activities? It’ll help you connect with people you haven’t met before, and you’ll have a lot to offer one another. At our Cardiff and Newport nursing homes we welcome mum and baby groups, and buddy-up with young people from nearby schools through our mentorship programmes. It all helps our residents keep their minds active. 

The real secret…? Do what you love to keep your mind active 

There are activities out there for everyone. Whether you decide to learn a language, take up a new hobby, or find out more about a subject that interests you, there are all sorts of activities that will help keep your mind active.  

But the most important thing of all is that you do something you enjoy. It’s no good forcing yourself to go to a book club or take up painting if those aren’t your things. Activities that make you happy and keep you interested are the best way to enjoy life and promote a healthy, active brain. 

Ready to keep your mind active? Come along to one of our day centres in our extra care schemes, or give us a call on 0800 072 0966 to chat about moving in o either a scheme or one of our nursing homes. We’d love to meet you.