Get Brain-Fit In the New Year
Lina Ko December 18th, 2009
I’ve been talking to a lot of my boomer friends lately to wish them well over the Holidays. Some are morbid and pessimistic and keep complaining about the inability to retire. Others are youthful and optimistic, constantly seeking BOTOX as their spa-replacement solution. And they live all around the world in different continents – Hong Kong, Shanghai, London, Florida, Virginia, Palm Springs, New York and, of course, good old Toronto.
I’m determined to beat the winter blues from now on and try to visit friends over long weekends in the warm regions of the world. Moreover, I’ve decided to get brain-fit in the new year. I read from enRoute magazine that the famous Canyon Ranch now offers a brain fitness program – one of the first in North America. A weekend program of fencing, art classes, computer games and nutrition counselling promises to make people smarter and healthier.
The renowned spa is not the only one offering such services to boomers. Last year, Westin Hotels and Resorts placed instructional cards with mental and physical exercises in the showers, pools and lobbies of its hotels as part of its BrainBody Fitness Promotion. The Yorkville Club, a gym in my neighbourhood, introduced a NeuroActive Bike that puts your brains to work with 22 touch-screen games that challenge your recall of faces, shapes and sympbols.
Whether it’s mental or physical health, boomers need to maintain both to keep enjoying life and contributing to society. Here’s wishing all baby boomers (aged 43 to 62) a healthy, meaningful and happy new year ahead of us!
