How Nature Can Improve the Quality of Life for Seniors

They say that the best things in life are free, and it’s easy to see why. Fresh air, the feeling of warm sunshine on your skin, and the sight of a beautiful sunset are in many ways more exhilarating than any attraction we can pay to see. They can even help to improve the quality of life for seniors.

Still, nature does much more than that. It helps remind us of how wonderful it is to be alive and makes us reflect on how we fit into and connect with the world around us. Sometimes our senior loved ones lose touch with those feelings when they spend long periods of time looking at the same four walls. A little adventure can make all the difference!

The Benefits of Time Spent Outside

If you’re looking for excuses to take Mom or Dad outside, look no further. Here are five reasons you should get your senior loved one out into nature on a regular basis:

• Use it or lose it: The more we exercise our muscles, the stronger they get. So, take your senior loved one for a hike, be it through the woods to see the beautiful plants and animals or just for a stroll around the park to watch the clouds. Just a little bit of exercise can make a big difference in our bodies, improving cardiovascular health, taking the stress of extra weight off joints and ligaments, and making seniors stronger when it’s time to fight off injuries or illnesses. Physical exercise also improves balance and motor skills, decreasing the likelihood of future falls.
• Get some fresh air: The level of oxygen in our bloodstream rises when we get away from stale indoor air and freshen up outdoors. Increased oxygen levels have countless benefits for our bodies, including improving cognition and brain function, and releasing serotonin, which gives us a burst of energy, a feeling of happiness and a better mood. Fresh, pure air can also help clean out our lungs and improve our respiratory function.
• It’s all mental: Studies prove that daily trips outside into nature reduce depression, anxiety, chronic stress levels and the body’s creation of cortisol — all ways to improve the quality of life for seniors. The results can also include lower blood pressure, improved concentration, and less likelihood of obesity and the complications that come with it.
• Get together outside: Getting back to nature doesn’t have to be done alone. Find a fishing buddy for Dad with whom he can drop lines into the park pond. Sign Mom up for a nature photography class, so she can meet people with similar interests and learn new skills. You can also register your senior loved one to be a volunteer at a community garden, where they can nurture their green thumb. Regardless of the activity, getting outside and spending time with others gives seniors something to look forward to and decreases feelings of isolation and loneliness.
• Off to dreamland: Sometimes seniors struggle to maintain a regular sleep schedule. When you’re retired and you don’t have to get up early, bedtime drifts later and later and, sometimes, Mom or Dad feels as if they can’t get to sleep at all. Getting out into nature and working our bodies and minds can reset our internal clocks by burning off excess energy. Then when it’s time to sleep, we’re ready to hit the sack and snooze more soundly throughout the night.

Getting back to nature is like a homecoming for our minds and bodies. It allows our brains and muscles to get back to the way they were intended to work. As our senior loved ones get older, we think of them spending their retirement years “taking it easy.” But that doesn’t necessarily mean sitting in a recliner in front of the television set. Living a fulfilled life after retirement can also mean taking time to smell the roses, strolling through the woods, and pursuing other outdoor passions. There’s never a shortage of inspiration for people of all ages to be found in the great outdoors.

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