Mindfulness Games for Adults to Boost Focus and Calm

Do you deal with anxiety and stress in your everyday life? As a senior in Loveland, CO, you should focus on enjoying your retirement years instead of worrying about things that are out of your control.

According to Kettering Health, approximately 25 percent of seniors suffer from anxiety. Stress and anxiety in older folks can stem from issues such as financial woes or loss of a loved one.

Mindfulness is one of the best techniques you can use to improve your mental well-being. Read on to learn about some mindfulness games for adults to try next time you feel overwhelmed.

Five Senses Grounding Technique

Grounding is a mindfulness technique designed to bring you back to the present. It teaches you to focus on sensory input within your current reality, so you'll focus less on what worries you.

The Five Senses, or the 5-4-3-2-1 Method, is a popular grounding exercise. It involves counting down from five, following these steps:

1. Think of five things you can see.
2. Think of four things you can touch.
3. Think of three things you can hear.
4. Think of two things you can smell.
5. Think of one thing you can taste.

Do this as many times as it takes to lower your stress levels. One advantage of the Five Senses grounding method is that you can do it anywhere.

Therapeutic Coloring

Coloring is generally seen as an activity for children, though it also has many benefits for adults and seniors. It presents numerous benefits, particularly for seniors. Coloring can:

• Engage creativity
• Maintain fine motor skills
• Improve hand-eye coordination
• Relax your brain

Coloring is one of the best mindful engagement tools because it is portable. A coloring book and markers, colored pencils, or crayons are easy to pack in your purse or bag.

In recent years, coloring has even gone digital. With the rise of iPads, tablets, and smartphones, it is more accessible than ever. There are multiple free or low-cost coloring apps available, featuring thousands of images to choose from.

If you don't have as much of a creative spark, try color-by-number. The concept is similar, but each preset color is associated with a distinctive number. You'll fill in a picture and get the added benefit of a surprise at the end.

Crossword Puzzles

Are you looking for brain games for aging adults that keep your mind sharp? Crossword puzzles are a great solution.

Crosswords offer senior mental health support by encouraging you to utilize active recall and the process of elimination. Some clues also include wordplay and exercises in logic, adding another layer of cognitive complexity.

Similar to coloring, you can also do crossword puzzles on your mobile devices. There are a plethora of apps available to download, specifically dedicated to crossword puzzles. Popular newspapers, such as The New York Times and The New Yorker, also have the crossword available in digital format on their respective apps.

Crossword puzzles also make for a fun group activity. Pull out a crossword puzzle book at your next senior living community gathering for some intellectually rigorous entertainment.

Box Breathing

Although stress relief games are fantastic for your mental health, controlled breathing is a quick and easy way to get intense stress and anxiety under control.

Next time you feel impending panic, try Box Breathing. Box Breathing involves four simple steps:

1. Breathe in deeply while counting to four.
2. Hold your breath while counting to four.
3. Breathe out fully while counting to four.
4. Hold your breath again while counting to four.

As you perform each step, imagine one side of a square box. Every completed cycle should result in a fully formed box.

Stress Ball

Do you want a simple, portable stress relief method that also encourages mindfulness? Try a stress relief ball.

You can either make or purchase a stress relief ball. Many websites sell packs of multiple stress relief balls, so you can keep them in easily accessible locations.

All you have to do when you feel oncoming stress or anxiety is reach for the ball and give it a squeeze. Squeezing strengthens hand muscles and helps focus your mind. In addition, the squeezing motion offers tactile distraction.

Spot the Difference

You may have seen these types of games in magazines or online photos, but did you know that Spot the Difference games offer relief from stress? Spot the Difference encourages mental stimulation and mindful contemplation.

Like other cognitive games, Spot the Difference features easy to difficult levels. To engage your mind further, try puzzles where identifying the discrepancies requires extended observation.

Spot the Difference puzzles are available in print and digital formats for endless entertainment.

Guided Meditation

Although traditionally not classified as a game, guided meditation can do wonders for feelings of stress and anxiety. Guided meditation offers numerous advantages, including:

• Better sleep
• Increased focus
• More gratitude
• Reduced anxiousness

Guided meditation is a great option for beginners. When meditating on your own, you may find that your thoughts drift uncontrollably, and it is more difficult to pull your focus.

In guided meditation, the narrator will instruct you on how to breathe and visualize. There are also many meditations tailored for unique situations, such as:

• Anxiety
• Stress
• Grief
• Guilt
• Sleep

Many meditation apps gamify the experience by encouraging users to form streaks, tracking consecutive practice days. The longer the streak, the more rewards or milestones you accomplish.

Try These Mindfulness Games for Adults Today

If you need an immediate stress reliever, these mindfulness games for adults are an excellent component of your mental health toolkit. They'll help you feel calmer, more grounded, and less stressed in no time.

Are you searching for a location to practice cognitive activities for elderly folks? Look no further than Stoneridge at Centerra. Our thriving assisted living and memory care community in Loveland, CO, offers a Vibrant Life® program, encouraging our residents to engage to the fullest at any age.

Do you want to learn more about all our community has to offer? Contact us today for more information on our available floor plans, or visit us in person to see for yourself. We can't wait to hear from you!