Rock Your Retirement Show

Living in the Present Moment

I wanted to try out something different on the show as I was getting bored of the usual pattern. So I will be co-hosting with Janelle Anderson and do a four-part series.

Today, we are talking about living in the present. I read an article called “Living in the Moment” by Zorka Hereford which came out in essentiallifeskills.net. We have been hearing about living in the present and mindfulness a lot, and it is something that I think we all should try.

By being present in the moment, you can get in touch with your feelings and thoughts and become more connected with others. We can become more relaxed and peaceful and derive a higher sense of gratitude towards life.

Living in the Present

To be in the present mean to be conscious of all of your senses geared to perceive the moment. It is not an easy task especially if you are new at it. Our minds have a habit of wandering off!

Janelle talks about a trip with her daughter where she went on a hike. Both of them were sitting on top of a small bridge, and she utilized all her senses to take at the moment. It was like taking a picture which gets imprinted in your heart and stays forever!

But she could have ruined it all just by thinking about walking back or what they were going to have in lunch.

Don't let your Past ruin your Present

Many of us also have the habit of letting the past ruin our present moment. We feel regret, get mad or upset because we haven't dealt with the past. We keep on ruminating on the things that happened again and again and end up impacting our present and the future.

You need to go back, revisit your past and accept that you cannot change it. You need to learn from it and let it go.

Some people have difficulty in dealing with their past. They hold it in and refuse to let it go. Therapy can be a good option for such people which helps them unpack their past and look at it from a different perspective.

One technique that Janelle learned as a coach can help us to live life without getting attached to the outcomes. It is called detached involvement which is a way to experience life as you observe it. If we can practice this, then we will be able to go along with any outcome and accept it.

Full attention is the key to be in the present. You should also not let thoughts of future meddle with the present moment.

Tips to be Living in the Present

The author provides us with six helpful tips to be in the present. Let's go over them!

* Teach yourself to focus on the present moment. It needs a lot of training, and you need to have a genuine intention to do so. You can develop the habit with gradual practice and then it would come naturally to you all the time.

* Get engaged in whatever you are doing and enjoying the process. You should use all your senses to take in a moment and tune in – listen to the bird's chirp, wonder at the clouds passing by, smell the fragrance of flowers- you get the hang of it right?

* Teach yourself the relaxation techniques which let you focus on the present moment. The simple exercise is to take a deep breath and slowly let it out. It brings you back in the present moment to whatever you are doing.

* You should also take in your surrounding and try to take a mental snapshot. It's just what we said about enjoying the process.

* Listening is an art we seldom practice. How many times do you tune out in a conversation- or have other thoughts? We should make a habit of listening for the sake of listening whether it is a conversation, music or even silence.

* Be in the present moment while you are eating. You should savor every grain or spoon and involve your brain while eating. That way you don't end up feeling hungry after an hour!

 

How to Stay Youthful?

What's the secret of looking younger and feeling better? How to stay youthful? Our guest for today's podcast is Judy Gaman. She's a successful radio show host. The name of her show is “The Staying Young Radio Show“. She's also the author of “Age to Perfection“, “Stay Young“, and “Love, Life, and Lucille“.

 

Staying Young

Staying young is a great problem that we have in our society right now. A lot of our diet wreaks havoc in the bacterias living in our gut. Some examples are carbohydrates and artificial sweeteners. We need to balance our good and bad bacterias. Our gut microbiome is connected to other aspects of our body so we have to take care of it.

Taking Care of our Digestive System

You have to take Fiber-rich foods like apple, banana, orange, strawberry, raspberry, vegetables, etc. Fiber is a type of carbohydrate that the body can’t digest. Though most carbohydrates are broken down into sugar molecules, fiber cannot be broken down into sugar molecules, and instead, it passes through the body undigested. Fiber helps regulate the body’s use of sugars, helping to keep hunger and blood sugar in check.

Sauerkraut is a great probiotic. Probiotics are live bacteria and yeasts that are good for you, especially your digestive system. We usually think of these as germs that cause diseases. But your body is full of bacteria, both good and bad. Probiotics are often called “good” or “helpful” bacteria because they help keep your gut healthy. You can find probiotics in supplements and some foods, like yogurt. Doctors often suggest them to help with digestive problems.

How to Stay Youthful

Eating healthy is the key. Always remember that not all organic foods are pesticide-free. You can try setting up a small garden in your house so you can grow your pesticide-free foods!

Remove soda in your diet. Some people buy soda to clean their house. Imagine putting that in your body!

Judy gave us 4 choices and she said we only have to pick one and follow it. Here are the options she gave us:

* If you are into artificial sweeteners, you have to stop using it.

* Set your sleep schedule and you have to stick to it.

* Find a way to exercise.

* Eat 7 servings of fruits and vegetables every single day.

CONNECT WITH JUDY GAMAN:

* http://www.JudyGaman.com

* [email protected]

Source:

* Use of Fiber – https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/carbohydrates/fiber/ 

* Probiotic – https://www.webmd.com/digestive-disorders/what-are-probiotics#1

 

Caring for our Sick Parents

Many of us have aging parents who need constant care and attention. People who have to contribute to caregiving for their sick parents can have a challenging time managing their own personal life. Some even have to move from their homes and jobs to move in with their parents.

It's not unusual for someone to completely start over after their parents pass away and it may take many years to achieve stability in their own life once again. Our guest Ruth Ullmann shares a similar experience. She gave up her career in internal business consultation and devoted her time for elder care.

She can be called an elder care coach and helps people care for their aging parents while driving a successful business.

How it all began…

Ruth has been helping companies, groups and individuals write success stories for 20 years. She has been featured on Fox, CBS, NBC, and ABC News, and was busy with her career. But a call from her sister changed everything — her mom was in the hospital and this was not the first time!

It was the fifth time in the year she had to come out of a meeting on a phone call which notified her that her mother had to be taken to the hospital. She realized that it was not working for her to be so far from her parents, so she decided to quit her job and move into a house closer to her parents.

She started consulting locally and things went fine for around 7 years. Then one day her mother had to be hospitalized again and gradually ended up in the ICU on a ventilator. Ruth found herself in a difficult situation as her mother was the primary caregiver for her dad who has also had health issues as well. He was diabetic, had dementia, and needed a wheelchair to move around.

Ruth's dad passed away 10 months later at a time when her own health was not in good condition. It took her over 5 years to get her health back on track and in this time her business was not doing well.

The time for realizations

The experience taught Ruth quite a few things and she realized that it was difficult for anyone to take care of their parents and handle business objectives at the same time.

She wished that she knew how to take care of her sick parents and work on her business at the same time. She wished she had conversations with her parents about what they wanted in the end.

Ruth also realized a few more things – primary caregivers are more likely to pass away earlier due to the stress of caregiving – almost with 44% mortality incidence rate. She realized that you should accompany your parents to the doctor so that you don't have to rely on second-hand information. You could know what is going on with your parents and help them relay their conditions and health status.

The realizations led her to change the nature of her business. She now started advising small businesses and entrepreneurs to meet business objectives while caring for aging parents. The business has two arms.

* help businesses stay in business while caring for aging parents

* helping families navigate elder care

She provides one-on-one consultation to entrepreneurs to become the leaders of their business. Much of it begins with automation and slowly working your way to transform into a CEO than become a day-to-day worker.

How Eldercare can help with our sick parents

Eldercare has many aspects which all of us are not aware of. We don't have a clear idea about how the industry works, the details about different services such as assisted living or rehabilitation centers and the legal, financial and medical aspects of healthcare services.

Ruth is the founder of Myeldercarejourney.com where she helps people on topics related to elder care and other services. She has an online course called

Living Healthy in Retirement

I am Kathe Kline and I am back with another episode of the Rock Your Retirement Show. Today’s episode is all about living healthy and our special guest is Georganne Schuch, often called as healthy habit master. After going through two extremely difficult pregnancies, which almost put her in a life and death situation, a cardiomyopathy scare, and several other health issues, Georgeanne decided to change her life and help others do the same.

The health enthusiast has developed 12 healthy habits set to assist people to make their lives healthy without spending a lot of money. She also updates regularly on her website stepyourwaytohealth.com. Georganne mentioned her 12 healthy habits. They include drinking more water to stay hydrated throughout the day, improving posture and consciously engaging in keeping the back straight.

Did you know that watching TV might lead to spine problems?

You might not notice but while watching television, we sit or lay down in an awkward position that can harm the spinal cord, which might lead to vertebral problems during old age. Engage in exercises like pulling back your shoulders to maintain a correct posture can help, according to Georganne.

Sleep is important in living healthy!

Another important part of the set is adequate sleep. Having a simple sleep cycle that consists of at least eight hours of continuous sleep is the very core of her health formula. The health master continued with taking less stress and working things out so that you are prepared for the worst.

Flexibility is a great advantage in the future

Being flexible is another step in becoming a healthy self-aware person. If you aren’t flexible naturally, you can perform yoga or pilates or any other exercise that helps in improving flexibility. If you are a flexible person, you tend to suffer less from joint pains and back pains, which is a blessing in disguise.

Exercise and Healthy food is a must!

She went on to talk about how staying active and walking whenever possible helps in staying healthy. Instead of taking the car to cover short distances, she advised people to walk or cycle their way there. A protein, good fats, and vitamin and mineral rich diet that contains a lot of whole foods fight off diseases and helps keep the waistline in control. During the conversation, we discussed about how everyone hates vegetables and have no choice but eat them. In the episode, she also talked about personal care product can be harmful to everyone. She said to eliminate as many products as possible and use natural ingredients that are enriched with vitamins and minerals.

Relationships

Georganne strongly believes in the power of building meaningful and emotional relationships with family and friends. Only when two people share an emotionally enriching relationship, they understand each other become better people and pass through difficult times. When Les and I got married, I told him that I wasn’t good at housekeeping. It was stressful for me because the housekeeper only came home twice a month. With only 24 hours in hand, it is difficult to do household chores especially if you are a career oriented person and have a business that needs complete attention from your side.

This doesn’t mean you are running away from things but prioritizing what matters the most to you. Prayer and meditation is something every person should practice daily to reduce mental fatigue and rejuvenate the mind for the next day. She said that practicing meditation and breathing exercises every morning after getting up and every night before going to sleep, reduces emotional and mental stress.

Prevention is always better than cure, so engage in activities that keep your help in health.

She also mentioned that caring about others is good but everyone should prioritize their own g...

Healthy Lifestyle Changes: A Conversation with Dr. Stephen Schimpff Part 2

We will pick up from where we left in the last show with our guest Dr. Steven Schimpff. He was talking about the seven aspects of living a healthy life, and we had just discussed three of the aspects.

In this show, we will talk about the rest of the points so that you have a healthy life and greater longevity. The seven factors of staying healthy are discussed in Dr. Schimpff's book Longevity Decoded, and he has given e a copy which I'm almost done the reading.

I'm also taking down notes and will gift the copy and my notes to a lucky listener of the show. You just have to leave a comment in today's show note, and I will be making the lucky draw on October 30 on the Rock your Retirement Facebook community at 9 am Pacific time.

Now let's see what Dr. Schimpff has to tell us about healthy lifestyle changes.

Get Adequate Sleep

You need at least 8 hours of sleep to stay healthy. During our sleep, our brain cells shrink and create a free space which is filled with fluid. This fluid is like a slow-moving river and washes out the toxin created by the brain.

Sleeping also helps your brain convert short-term memories into long-term ones. Just like you save a file in a computer, our brain also creates the memories and places it according to so that we can retrieve it when we need. This is one of the most important lifestyle changes we need to do.

Falling Asleep

Many of us have trouble in falling asleep so Dr. Schimpff gives us a few pointers to achieve the task.

The first thing you should try is to calm down and set yourself in a relaxing mood. That means no agitating material before going to bed- no stimulating movies with violence or a book with intense thriller! You can do with some light, peaceful reading or maybe a comedy movie!

You should make your room absolutely dark and draw the shades if necessary. It would help if you also stopped using your phone or computer as the light interferes with our sleep. You can even turn the alarm clock so that the light doesn't disturb you.

We should let our natural sleeping cycle take over and do everything to invite it. If possible, you can tune your sleeping schedule to the sunset and sunrise time for maximum benefit.

Staying Asleep

Some of us wake up in the middle of the night and find it difficult to go back to sleep once again. Dr. Schimpff advises us not to drink a lot of water or alcohol before hitting the bed. If we do get up, we should not turn on bright lights and maybe can take help of a night light. It is also not advisable to drink as you may again wake up with the urge to go to the bathroom.

If you find difficulty in sleeping, you can go consult with a doctor and maybe take some sleeping aid such as melatonin.

Quit Smoking

Tobacco is one of the main causes of heart disease and will hamper your longevity for sure. Smokers are likely to die almost a decade earlier which has also been proved by studies. Though there is increased awareness about the ills of smoking, 17% people continue to do it. It is also more common in socially deprived areas where cigarettes remain more popular.

Cigarettes and other smoking items create a lot of harmful chemicals when they burn. It can cause heart diseases by creating plaque in the arteries and chambers. Smoking can also lead to inflammation which in turn leads to chronic diseases. You should cut out any form of smoking be it a cigar, pipe or modern vaporizers. This is also one of the important lifestyle changes we have to do.

Intellectual Stimulation

Keep providing your brain regular challenges which keep it sharp and functional. There are various ways to stimulate your brain such as games like chess and sudoku, joining a discussion group or may be performing some art.

Social Engagement

We already discussed in the last show that we cannot live...

Healthy Lifestyle Changes: A Conversation with Dr. Stephen Schimpff

One thing I'm pretty sure of is every one of us want to live a longer and better life. That means having a healthy life free of illness and diseases. Today our guest is Dr. Steven Schimpff who is a senior health and longevity expert and has also written a book about it.

Dr. Schimpff is going to tell us about the secrets to living a long and healthy life. He is 76 years old and moved to a retirement community with his wife.

Healthy Lifestyle Changes at a Retirement Community

Dr. Schimpff thinks that it is easier to have healthy lifestyle changes in retirement or senior community. His wife has been his lifetime coach and cooks healthy for both of them. The people in the community requested Dr. Schimpff to give a talk on living better and slowly he picked on the subject. He attended many seminars, lectures and carried out his own research all of which have been consolidated in his book.

Living in a senior community has enabled them to adopt some healthy habits. They have signed up for 20 meals in a month, and her wife cooks the rest. The community has a fitness center and an Olympic size swimming pool coupled with lanes for walking. Both of them find it easier to exercise or maybe go for a walk to stay fit.

They can also interact with other seniors over their meal and satisfy the need for social engagement. There is also no need to worry about small things such as leaky gutters as everything is taken care of.

Dr. Schimpff has some useful insights which can help you have healthy lifestyle changes.

How can the Senior Community Lead a Better and Healthy Life

According to Dr. Schimpff, you have to choose between the healthy and non-healthy in every aspect of life. You can either have a salad or eat a sugar-laden cookie- the choice is in your hands. Dr. Schimpff tells us that there are seven crucial aspects of living a healthy life-

* eating healthy

* managing stress

* adequate exercise

* getting enough sleep

* quitting smoking

* intellectual stimulation

* social engagement

Healthy eating is a MUST!

Be really careful about what you eat. Try to include as many green leafy vegetables as possible in your meals and also eat a lot of wide variety of colorful vegetables. You can choose the ones you like and make a salad, boil them or cook them with meat. A vegetable-based diet will give you all required nutrients while being low on calorie. Your plate should have 2/3 vegetables, and the rest can be meat or fish.

You should also try to cut white flour and sugar from your diet. We have talked about it many times in our show how sugar can lead to inflammation and other chronic diseases. You should also look to eat grass-fed meat which has Omega 3 which is also present in fish. Cows who are fed soybeans and corns have Omega 6 which is not good for our body.

Our guts contain around 100 trillion beneficial bacteria which digest fiber and give us energy. It's necessary to feed the good bacteria while starving the bad ones. Fermented food like yogurt and Sauerkraut come with live organisms and a good source of probiotics. You should also consume enough fiber present in fruits and vegetables to feed the good bacteria to keep you healthy. The label of the yogurt should read “contains live cultures” which means it has the good bacteria which our guts need.

A few tips to have a healthy brain

We also have to learn to deal without stress which can be done through meditation, taking walks in nature and spending time with people we like. You should also cut out tobacco use which we all know is not good for our health.

You also have to keep your brain up to date by providing it stimulation or challenges. As humans,

Our Trusted Housesitters Experience

In this episode, Les is going to join me as a co-host as we talk about our experiences with Trusted Housesitters. Housesitters come in handy when you need them – and you can count on them to look after your pets. They stay in your home for the time you are gone and take care of everything.

I have both served as a housesitter and used the service when we went on a trip. Today, we are going to talk about my experience of being a housesitter and how it felt to use the service. I really appreciate the service as it lets me travel to other places for free! I wanted to see how it felt like to be a housesitter and gain some experience on the platform.

About my first Trusted Housesitters client

My first client was a sweet couple who needed a housesitter on urgent basis. They lived in a 1,000 square foot house near the beach and had two large dogs weighing around 90 lbs. The first time I went to the house the dogs jumped on me as soon as the owner opened the door- that was the first red flag I noticed about the dogs and showed the dogs were not well behaved. The couple also asked us to lock the doors as the dogs loved to chew on their pillows!

Never Do More Than You Think You Can!

One day, Les took me out to dinner, and we came back to witness a real mess. It was just an hour and a half hour that we were gone. When we came back, we see something strewn all across the floor. We realized it was the remote control for the ceiling fan – the dogs made it a treat for themselves! The situation did not get better, and the dogs kept on chewing and eating other things – including our favorite magazines.

This taught me a valuable lesson, and probably I won't be doing dogs in my next assignment, especially big dogs. I can handle cats, small dogs, and birds but big dogs can be quite difficult. It also taught me to ask more questions about the job before taking it up.

It’s Mostly Great!

Next time, I had to housesit a cat, and it was in a beautiful house with nice people. I only felt vulnerable one time – there was news of a criminal in the neighborhood. But apart from that, the whole experience was good!

Les and I also opted for housesitting service when we were going on a trip and wanted someone to watch our dogs. Les was skeptical in the beginning about having a stranger in the house, so we did a Skype call to see how our housesitter looked. It's always better to interact with beforehand with your housesitter so that you can see their face and know about them a bit.

A Few Precautions Help

We also took a few precautions which would save us landing up in a false situation. We chose to lock the master bedroom and explained to the housesitter that it was for their own good. I constantly keep forgetting where I have kept things and didn't want to blame someone unnecessarily if they are not at fault. Also, Les doesn't find it very comfortable that someone would sleep in his bed!

I also locked my office as it contained sensitive information related to my clients.

We have a guest room where the housesitter was put up. She even brought her own bag with covers and all and didn't use our things.

Other than that, the whole house was open to the housesitter and we also asked them to share our food. The housesitter did a very good job of taking care of our dogs, and both of us were really happy with the service.

The Trusted Housesitter platform has three levels of security checks which can go a long way to prove the worthiness of a housesitter. You can look for third level security which involves a background check of the housesitter. The first two levels are related to verification of mobile numbers and Facebook accounts.

You can also sign up for a housesitting service or become a housesitter yourself by using this link

Have a Healthy Brain after Retirement!

Our brains start to lose its capacity as we age and we can’t remember things as we used to before. As for me, I have seen that my memory has been suffering as I age because of not having a healthy brain. That is why I tend to write down stuff which helps me remember things.

Today, I look forward to learning a few things from our guest Janet Rich Pittman who helps out old people with age-related difficulties. She was in a marketing job and helped her husband get elected to a public office. She moved into old age care on the advice of her mother, who told her that she was great at helping her grandmother with dementia at the hospital.

Janet started her course and became a dementia healthcare administrator. She loved her work where she helped old people to have a healthy brain and fight the treacherous disorder of dementia and other ageing related issues. She continued her studies further and became a dementia practitioner to be able to help people with dementia.

What our Healthy Brain needs

I asked Janet about the issues that we can face as we get old. Janet tells us that our brains are prone to experience a brain drain as we age. The brain needs proper nutrition and the need increases as it grows old. You also have to keep providing it challenges so that it does not fade away into oblivion.

Janet runs her website and even has written an ebook. My listeners can go to her site which is Janetrichpittman.com and get direct access to the ebook completely for free. You can also go for a printed version, which costs $7.95 which shipping included.

The book is called 9 Signs You are Experiencing Brain Drain and available in the middle section of her website. You need to scroll down a bit, and then you can see it.

The book has everything you need to know about the brain drain that you experience as you grow old. It also tells you how to keep your brain fully charged so that you can go through old age without experiencing problems such as loss of memory.

Food for a Healthy Brain

I asked Janet to enlighten us with some of the nine signs that she has written about in her book. She tells us that the most important thing to keep a watch is the food you are eating. There is an intrinsic connection between the brain and the gut, and you will be surprised to know that the gut produces more neurotransmitters than the brain!

What you eat is going to affect the performance of your brain. Janet also provides insight into the foods we should be wary of. She advises us to keep our hands off the “6 white foods”- sugar, rice, potatoes, milk, flour, and corn. Janet tells us that the black and brown varieties of the white food such as brown rice, Indian potatoes are fine but we must try not to eat the white ones!

White Sugar is Not Good for the Brain

She also tells us that we should cut out white or processed sugar from our diet. It has been proved that sugar feeds cancer. It’s why you should instead try things like maple sauce or honey to satisfy your sweet cravings. Along with giving up processed sugar, look to include oils such as Omega 6 and Omega 3 which improve the performance of your brain.

She also speaks about the ill effects of gluten which is present in almost all food. We can handle a bit of gluten now and then, but excess amounts can turn our body against itself. Gluten causes leaks in the intestine, and the food seeps out in the body.

It can lead to inflammation and with years of bad eating habit, the inflammation can shoot up to the brain resulting in dementia. The inflammation takes place as the immunity system reacts to the gluten and starts harming the body's cells thinking they are the enemy! So watching your gluten intake is really crucial!

Another sign that people should look out for is getting enough sleep. Sleep is directly related to your brain's performance and has effect on your mem...

Natural Health and Wellness in Retirement

Our guest today is Marian Carroll who is an expert in bio-individuality. It is a concept which means that a single diet does not fit all and the needs of an individual have to be considered. Marian had a career in finance and IT and reached her retirement age as a baby boomer.

She wanted a reason to get up in the morning and have something to do. This zeal led her to train and become a holistic health counselor who deals with natural health and wellness. Her job involves advising people on natural health and wellness in all aspects of life. This is for them to achieve optimal health. She focuses on five key aspects which are crucial for an improved healthy diet, physical care and exercise, a purpose in life, emotional wellness and spiritual practice.

Marian tells us that all the five aspects are connected and should be our focus if we want to stay healthy especially in our retirement age having natural health and wellness.

Marian gives us helpful insights on how to connect with nature to improve our health. She is not only talking about the nature that surrounds us, but she is also referring to out intrinsic nature or the intuitions. It is important to listen to our intuitions to achieve optimal health.

Health and Nature

Marian also states that we should improve our health by making well thought, slow and permanent changes in our lifestyle. The most important thing we need to be wary of is the food that we eat. We should start thinking about natural health and wellness for ourselves. We have developed a habit of thinking intellectually about what we eat rather than having our intuitions do the job.

Marian's father used to say that she would eat what she needs as she is more connected to nature as a child. Marian thinks we should follow the same philosophy and let our guts decide what is good for us. It would also tell us what food to stay away from as they as they are not good for our body. Our body is more alive in a natural health and wellness.

We should be super careful about what we eat and look to include more green in our diet because we really need to consider natural health and wellness. Marian says that the 80% food products that we get in the supermarket are made in factories which is not natural. Out of those around 65% to 80% come with added sugar.

Natural Sweeteners

Marian tells us that we should look to cut out processed sugar as much as possible from our diets. Too much sugar can lead to inflammation and even feed dangerous diseases like cancer. I also agree with Marian as Les, and I have stopped consuming sugar after he was diagnosed with cancer.

It takes a bit of awareness and a lot of reading of labels of food products to know what to buy. Many products come with sugar such as peanut butter, bread, soups and we need to be aware of them. We will know about the ingredients and can choose sugar-less options easily if we read contents.

Marian also suggests to us that we should aim to eat more plant-based whole food. You can even go for a plant-based version of popular food items such as noodles- there is a version which is made from the root of a plant found in Asia. You can also use natural sweeteners and natural honey instead of sugar to make your food sweet. This is what natural health and wellness are about.

Natural Health and Wellness

You should start with small changes and include veggies in your diet slowly and gradually. Your body may not be used to vegetables and you may be gassy or have other stomach issues in the beginning. But slowly your body will detoxify and adapt to the new diet making you feel more natural, healthy and energetic.

The topic comes up that many people don't like to eat vegetables which affect our natural health and wellness. I asked Marian what should such people do to include natural greens in their diet.

Living Healthy in Retirement

I talked with Cassandra Hill, who is a gerontologist and a certified wellness coach. She started out working with seniors in long-term care and assisted living and enjoyed her time. The health of the seniors she worked with declined to a point that their quality of life was limited. This gave her the passion to work with seniors and give them a better quality of life.

In this episode, Cassandra enlightens us on how to age properly and the things that we should do to live out our senior years in peace and confidence.

Cassandra tells us that the baby boomers are in their retirement age and they need to be proactive about aging. She has served seniors living at home, in a skilled nursing, assisted living, and also in hospice. She ensures that their emotional health is also taken care of so that they are in a good mental state. Their wellbeing is not only important to them, but also for their loved ones and family members.

Our body and mind are interwoven and often mental stress can lead to physical symptoms and even cause illness. It is necessary to take care of both in order to live a comfortable life.

Concerns about aging

I ask Cassandra to tell us more about the concerns of aging and growing old. She states that the primary concern of seniors she works with is finances. Having the means necessary to live and fear of outliving their money. Many people have not bought long-term insurance or didn't save enough to go through retirement. With the advance in medical science, people are living longer but with chronic illness.

Such people need to apply for government insurance like Medicaid immediately, which can cover long-term care depending on your circumstances. The insurance also pays for meals or any medical expenses including that of a nurse. Some states also offer the PACE program for seniors which are all-inclusive programs that come helpful in the golden years.

Cassandra is now focusing on people who are yet to retire so that she can work with them and help them save enough for retirement. She also feels that the retirement system in the country should change otherwise future generations won't be able to support them.

Living Healthy

I presented Cassandra a hypothetical situation of a 62-year-old woman who has to take care of her kids and also has to check in on her parents.  Doing things for her parents such as occasionally buying groceries and other things for them. I ask Cassandra what suggestion she would give to such a woman.

Cassandra says that this woman should first take care of herself otherwise she won't be able to care for others. She should go for a routine check-up at least once every 6 months. She also advises her to take self-care measurements and get the finances sorted. She suggests getting some form of pension and gets a retirement plan while making some cutbacks in her lifestyle. Her kids can also apply for education loans to take some burden off her shoulders.

For a 62-year-old woman living independently, Cassandra advises her to develop healthy habits or should practice living healthy. She should also exercise regularly for about 30 minutes a day to increase her heart rate. To avoid feelings of isolation, she should join some community such as YMCA and interact with people who share the same interests.

Advice from Cassandra

Cassandra also gives out words of wisdom who want to be proactive about their aging. She tells us to invite an Aging in Home designer who can come and assess your house. They can suggest a number of changes which might help you in living healthy and happy for a long time. Such considerations include putting slides in the shower, taking up rugs and so on. Talking on the subject it turns out that falls are really common with senior people. Most of the falls happen in the bathroom facilitated by factors such as water and slippery floors.