(StatePoint)

Retirement should be relaxing, not boring. In fact, taking on new hobbies can keep your mind sharp and body vital as you age. Here are five ways to stay active in your golden years:

  1. Join a gym: Joining a gym is one of the easiest ways to ensure you perform a mix of strength training and cardiovascular exercise. Doing both will help keep your bones and muscles strong and your heart and lungs fully functional. Don’t forget to add in yoga and stretching to promote balance and agility. If a gym is out of reach, see what other nearby opportunities are available for working up a sweat. Many towns and cities offer free and budget-friendly, community-based exercise programming.
  2. Play music: There are numerous cognitive and emotional benefits associated with playing music. Whether you’re a beginner just looking to pick up the basics or a seasoned musician with the hopes of performing in public, you can equip yourself to sound amazing with a high-quality instrument like the CT-S1-76 keyboard from Casio. Its 76 full-size keys and upgraded 13-watt bass-reflex stereo speaker system with surround effect lend it incredible sound quality and a dynamic playing experience, while its sleek, portable design makes it a joy to play anytime, anywhere. In addition to remotely controlling the CT-S1-76, you can also use the Casio Music Space app to learn to play your favorite songs with downloadable MIDI files, interact with PDF scores, and much more.
  3. Start a book club: It’s always more fun to read books when you can discuss them with friends. From tackling the classics, to diving into non-fiction works that will challenge your perspective, to enjoying some easy, breezy beach reads, it’s important that the other members of the group have the same reading goals as you. So do a little leg work in advance to ensure everyone is on the same page.
  4. Number crunch: You don’t have to be in school to take up math as a hobby. There are plenty of recreational mathematicians of all ages who enjoy crunching numbers to work puzzles, compete in games, and uncover patterns in the real world. To get into your mathematical groove and to support your hobby, use a graphing calculator such as the fx-9750GIII from Casio. Its over 2,900 functions, including random number generation, metric conversion and object measurement, make it a great tool for any mathematical project.
  5. Learn a language: Learning a new language not only creates new neural pathways in the brain, it can be just the motivational ticket you need to finally visit that bucket list destination you’ve been dreaming of. While formal lessons are great, you can help ensure your skills truly progress through conversation. Lean on services like Tandem to connect with a language partner.

By taking on new hobbies and expanding your interests, you can carve out a retirement that is active, adventurous and good for your body, mind and soul.