The active Covid cases are increasing every day, the reason being that there are more new cases being added than old cases being discharged. As per reports the active cases in India are going to cross figure of 9 lakh today. Totally more than 33 lakh patients have recovered from Covid from total figure of 43lakh+ cases. With death toll crossing over 73,000. It looks like if this trend continues very shortly India will cross the figure of 50 lakh for number of cases, and death toll also might reach 80,000 very shortly. Maharashtra is contributing more than 20% of cases, but in fatality its contribution is more than 37%, which is the point to ponder of Maharashtra govt.
Now coming to my other topic of the day:
Age catches up with people in many ways, and one is memory loss, or even Alzheimer’s disease. Hence it is always advisable to keep your Brain Active. Hence it is always advisable along with keeping the body active, one must also keep brain active. Sleep also helps in de cluttering the brain and delaying disease like Alzheimer’s. There are few other activities, which help in keeping the mind active:
Puzzles
Working daily on some puzzles, really helps in keeping your brain to stay alert. There are many books available for the same, and a few examples are crosswords, patterns, Sudoku etc. Many newspaper also runs these on daily basis. Researchers have suggested that doing such activities will indeed prevent or delay the progression of Alzheimer’s disease.
Hobby
Each of us may have some hobby like writing, reading, painting, craft, playing some musical instrument, singing etc. It is essential to hold on to these to stay alert. Hobbies will require you to stay focussed on that, and for that whole duration of active your brain remains active.
Gardening
Gardening has few advantages like spending some time outside in sun to get enough Vitamin D, a little bit of exercise tending to plants, and also it gives lot of satisfaction. This activity calms your mind and keeps you in good mood, that keeps your brain healthy. Even Vitamin D helps the brain in balancing its harmones.This activity may be looked at as a wholesome activity that helps seniors in their well being.
Physical Exercise
You may be wandering how physical exercise is useful in keeping your mind alert. It is said that physical exercise is integral for the reinforcement of memory of people of all ages. It has been found that people who exercise regularly grasp things better, are more focussed, ans also recall information better. Hence, regular physical activity like walking, stretches, yoga or aerobics may be adopted in the quest to stay mentally fit.
Board Games
One good way to keep yourself mentally fit is board games. You may choose to play it with your friends or family members. There are many board games like chess, Ludo, scrabble. Chess is a mind game that requires you ti use your mind to apply strategy to win or keep yourself in the game.
Computer or Video Games
There are many computer and video games that you can play on either smart phone, laptop or ever on TV. Many of these games need you to stay mentally fit and react fast Hence they hone your mental skills and can help you stay mentally fit. However down side of this is that you can get addicted and play for hours, missing out on other activities.
Learning
There is no age limit for learning some thing new. You could easily pick up something like new hobbies, or a new language, musical instrument, singing. Learning activity can also keep your brain sharp and help it to remain healthy.
Travel
Travel is another activity that can help seniors, to stay mentally alert. Right from planning, to actually making the trip, there are lots of activity involved. You need to plan, pack and ensure safety and things like that. Also it means that you meet people, talk, socialise, see new places and learn about them. All these activities help you in staying mentally fit and healthy.
Friends, out of the above mentioned activities, on the regular basis I do walking, solving puzzles like Sudoku, writing my blogs, games on smart phone, to keep myself mentally active.
Awaiting your feed backs/comments/views.
Anil Malik
Mumbai, India
9th September 2020.