The next installment of the curated creativity posts series focuses on the topic of aging and how we can avoid cognitive decline. It also looks at what we can gain with age and the positively linked to cognitive and mental health into older age.
Maintaining Creativity As We Age
We need to undertake activities that help build cognitive reserve, the brain’s ability to operate effectively even when some function is disrupted. It also refers to the amount of damage the brain can sustain during aging, before changes in cognition become evident. We can build cognitive reserve through taking up activities that present mental or intellectual challenges.
We know that benefits can accrue when we undertake art based practices throughout life and continue these into our mature ageing years. Taking up mental challenges like knitting and crafts, writing, reading and discussion through book clubs, as well as physical activities combined with maintaining social connections and keeping an open mindset, are proven ways to stay cognitively alert as we age.
Check out the following posts to read how you can stay creative as you age.
Does Creativity Peak at a Specific Age?
We often associate creativity with children, the way they can embrace new ideas, the joy of playing and when they’re in a fostering environment, not be held back by failure. In talking to my workshop participants, they’ve often held onto the view that those creative days have passed them. So it led me to ask ‘ does our creativity peak at a specific age?”
Promoting creativity as we age and the significance of everyday creativity
Let’s explore how creativity can assist through our lifecycle with a focus on overall wellbeing as we mature and age. We know that creativity assists us to utilise our innate ability to problem find and solve, but what about in other contexts as a means to further our personal development in life? Let's explore 'everyday creativity' and consider how this might shape a life well lived. What role can creativity play in this?
Restorative techniques assist our aging brain... and how that will support us to creatively age.
There’s growing consensus from science that an effective brain- body connection is integral to our higher order cognitive function and essential to maintain our ability to problem solve, stay motivated and explore more creative ways of being. More research is underway on how yoga can assist in maintaining brain health and thus our creativity.
Neuroplasticity- Looks like you can teach an old brain new tricks
Your brain is more flexible than ever thought before. It changes because it's constantly optimising itself, reorganising itself by transferring cognitive abilities from one lobe to the other, particularly as you age.
After a stroke, for instance, your brain can reorganise itself to move functions to undamaged areas.
And yet, due to the lifestyles we lead we tend to not make full use of our brains.
Free Resources
What do the arts have to do with our health? It’s not a huge leap to associate a gallery visit with a stimulating, even relaxing, sensation. We see some great art pieces, usually in the company of friends and on the way out, a quick shop at the exhibition store for a memento, followed by a refreshing lunch or coffee. By any comparison this is a lovely social day out.
But is there more we can attribute to this enjoyable activity? Participating in the arts through dancing, drawing, painting, performing and more broadly craft making, are being understood as an essential part of our wellbeing and health.
This free resource is a curated article that documents the growing scientific research underway to quantify the mental and physical health benefits these art and craft based activities can provide, and why doing rather than just viewing, points to why we all need to take a dose of daily art.
Optimising Creativity for Well- Being
This free program focuses on exploring how creativity can assist throughout our life with a focus on overall well-being as we mature and age. This online course is designed as a self-paced format and includes a presentation video and a summary of video transcript.
It's located on the online platform Udemy
You can also check out The Creative Advantage Life Cycle (book 3) to find out more about how to enhance creativity throughout all stages of life.