How to Maintain an Active & Social Life Through Retirement

Maintaining a social life is not everyone's cup of tea, and it only gets more challenging with age. Coupled with retirement, you tend to lose half of your social network, which significantly affects your personal and social life. Once you stop working, you don't get to meet people daily and start to feel isolated. With limited options, and not being motivated enough to meet new people, staying active after retirement might get difficult to add more people to your social pool.

Therefore, it’s advisable that after retirement you should start meeting new people and stay in touch with your colleagues as much as you can. It will help keep you physically and mentally healthy. Instead of letting retirement taking a toll on your mental health, start enjoying this new phase of your life.

Here are the best tips for adjusting to retirement that you can take advantage of for a healthy body, active mind, and a balanced lifestyle.

Get a Fitness Buddy
Exercise is imperative for all age groups, especially for those above 60 years of age. Not only does it help stay fit, but it also clears the mind, reduces the risk of diseases, and creates a positive mindset. Moreover, it also helps strengthen muscles and improve cognition which gets crucial with age.

If exercise is not something you look forward to, you can make it enjoyable by getting a fitness buddy in your neighbourhood or by joining a fitness club. You can choose from various organisations that offer these classes for older adults, such as Tai Chi and water aerobics.

Join a Walking Group
For staying active after retirement, you can check through your local council if there is a walking group in your area. If there isn't, you can always make one yourself. Not only will this keep you fit, but will enable you to get familiar with your neighbours and make new friends. It also might encourage other retired people to join you. However, ensure that winters don't create a hindrance in your fitness routine - you can search for various indoor activities in the local fitness centres.

Explore with A Travel Group
If you are a travel lover and never got a chance to travel the way you wanted, now is the time! Since the social effects of retirement are immense, you can travel in a group. Local interest groups host various tours such as craft, music clubs, gardening, and photography, so you can join the one that matches your interests - it’s always more enjoyable to travel with people of similar tastes.

Even if you can't travel for longer durations and live in a retirement estate, the activities department can let you know of shorter tours. Find below the many advantages of travelling in a group.

• Hosted tours will take care of you from start to finish.

• The group does all the planning.

• You don't have to worry about driving.

• It’s more affordable because of group discounts.

• You can also book an extension to make your side trip if you like

• You can make new friends.

Become A Volunteer
If you always had the passion for meeting new people, giving back to the community, and wanting to counter the social effects of retirement, volunteering is a great way to do that. Apart from contributing to a good cause, you can enhance your wellbeing through a sense of belonging and fulfilment. You will also make new friends and discover the various other skills you may have possessed but never realised.

Spend Time with Family
Family plays a pivotal role during your retirement years. Not only do you get to spend more time with them, but it also eliminates the social effects of retirement and strengths the family bond. If you are living in the same house, you can easily spend time with them.

However, if you are away, make sure to call each other daily, video chat and even pay visits on the weekend. Also, spend quality time with your grandchildren. You can learn so much from each other, and the joy you feel by simply being around their youthful energy is priceless.

Final Words
Retirement is one of the major transitions in life and may not be easily adaptable for some people. However, you don’t need to rush. Prepare yourself beforehand to make it a smooth process. With these best tips for adjusting to retirement, you can promise an active and social life.

Moreover, all you need is to make most of your retirement & a place to make this happen. Hence, if you are looking for a retirement village north Turramurra, you may consider The Cotswolds Village, a warm, welcoming place to enjoy your special retirement years.