Tag Archives: retirement living

Senior Women Say Wear Lipstick!

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Paradise Village Retirement Community is home to the Ms. Senior San Diego Pageant!“Wear Lipstick.” This is about the craziest advice for living well given to senior women that I have seen, but in a way it makes perfect sense. A scientific example of this was given in a Harvard study which found that women who thought they looked younger after a visit to a salon actually had a drop in blood pressure. Anecdotally, a recent interview of vibrant women entering their 11th decade – yes, 11th decade – with vigor and spirit found a similar thread in the consensus of the group – that self confidence is a marvelous thing and a little vanity is good for you.

We have seen this same phenomenon on our senior living campus too. To the delight of everyone, Paradise Village Retirement Community has the privilege of calling itself home to the Ms. Senior San Diego Pageant. This event honors women in the ‘Age of Elegance’ who best portray dignity, maturity, and inner beauty, and is intended to inspire all of us to live a full, balanced, and vivacious life. One cannot help but feel that this group of gracious, fit, happy and social contestants, lives by the ‘Wear Lipstick’ philosophy.

This leads to the thought that of course it is not really about makeup and it’s not about being model perfect or conforming to guidelines that do not fit us. The senior women who offered their insights on living well were talking about enhancing who we feel we are, about recognizing within ourselves something worth celebrating and something worth sharing. Their insights, summed up by the idea of wearing lipstick, were full of approaches to feed your soul, indulge in yourself, generate positive energy and grow confidence.

So there it is. Feel beautiful. It is key to a long and wonderful life.

What are the most important lessons you have learned?

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The Legacy Project began in 2004, when Karl Pillemer, a professor of human development at Cornell University, began collecting advice for living from American’s seniors. He gathered 1500 responses to the question: “What are the most important lessons you have learned over the course of your life?”

People from all over the nation in their 70′s and above shared their advice and wisdom for living a live with no regrets. A summary of his findings can be found in his recent book, 30 Lessons for Living-from the Wisest Americans.

Here is a summary of some of their thoughts.

How To Be Happy: The consensus of the elders is that we can’t wait for external events to bring about happiness. They suggest we can make a choice not to brood negatively about life. Don’t think on any past shortcomings or failures. Learn what you can from them, resolve to do better, and live on. Almost all elders viewed happiness as a choice, not the result of how live treats you.

On Aging: “Embrace it. Don’t fight it. Growing older is both an attitude and a process”, an 80 year old man said. The experts advice to the young: “Don’t waste your time worrying about getting old.”

Maintain social contacts. Avoid becoming isolated. When an invitation is issued, say yes. Take steps to stay engaged, and take advantage of opportunities to learn new things. Although many were initially reluctant, those who moved to a senior living community found more freedom to enjoy activities and relationships then they had before.

On Regrets: Travel more when your younger rather than wait until the children are grown or you are retired. Travel is so rewarding that is should take precedence over other things younger people spend money on. Create a bucket list now and start whittling it down.

Vist the web site for more advice and Meet The Elders videos.  www.legacyproject.human.cornell.edu

Water Exercises, Hydrotherapy, Swimming & Water Therapy for Arthritis

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Warm water exercises are beneficial to health and wellness of everyone but play a special roll in keeping arthritis sufferers healthy as well as the easing of some symptoms over time. Swimming, water aerobics and other water exercises are low impact, with the water’s buoyancy supporting the body’s weight to decrease pressure on joints and making it easier to perform range of motion exercises. The benefits to keeping your body in motion are to build strength, loosen stiff joints and relaxing sore muscles.

Although pain stops many arthritis patients, regular movement has been proven to relieve pain and improve joint function. Listen to your body and take advantage of the best time of day or the way you feel. Relax, feeling anxious can amplify pain and know your body – when it’s OK and when its time to stop.  Always, consult your doctor before starting any exercise routine.

Paradise Village offers gentle aquatic exercises by Arthritis Foundation accredited instructors at the pool! Ability to swim is not required.

Cell Phones for Seniors

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Today’s cell phones can do so much more than just make calls. How do you decide what phone is right for your needs and then what plan will be the best value?

Technology is getting more and more complex, and navigating the myriad of choices can be overwhelming. These few simple things are all you may need:

  • Make and receive calls
  • Ability to hear callers
  • Ability to see numbers and displays
  • Simple easy-to-use menus

There are also several other things to consider:

  • Coverage area: will you have good reception for making calls?
  • Minutes: how frequently will you use your phone?
  • Support: will your provider be able to help you with questions?

Have providers go over their plans with you and what their terms like “anytime minutes” or “nights and weekend minutes” mean. Terms like roaming* and overage** are common across carriers but many terms are not.

Take a look at family plans and pre-paid plans to keep your costs down. Ask around, your friends in your retirement community may have some recommendations for you. Be realistic about how many minutes you will use and if you happen to go over your allotted minutes, call your provider to upgrade your plan. They often will retroactively update your plan and remove overage charges.

Cell phone models change frequently but a couple that were found to be a good fit for seniors:

Just5

Samsung T101G from TracFone

AT&T F160

Samsung M360 on Sprint

To read reviews on cell phone models that are good for seniors you can visit: http://cellphonesforseniorcitizens.blogspot.com/

*Roaming: when you are outside of your main coverage area and your phone roams the airwaves to find signal for you to make calls. If you are outside of your main area, there may be an additional charge depending on your cell phone plan.

**Overage: the amount of minutes over your allotted plan.

Senior Wellness at Paradise Village

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The benefits of leading an active senior lifestyle are many and well studied throughout the world. Regular exercise promotes a healthy mind, wards off injury and illness and also just plain makes you feel better! Hitting the gym is not for everyone and retirement communities all over have developed creative programs to get you moving from low-impact exercise classes to swimming.

For most of us, just getting off the couch to get to the program or gym is the hard part but you can find inspiration in the smallest of places.

  • Ask a friend from your community to join you and keep you motivated.
  • Subscribe to a fitness magazine.
  • Watch television shows that are health-minded.
  • Subscribe to a fitness blog or YouTube channel.

Paradise Village offers an exercise room with strength training machines, staff with expertise in senior fitness, classes tailored to your individual capacity, an 18-hole putting course and a beautiful swimming pool.

As always, please discuss any exercise regimen with your personal physician before starting.