The Birches Is Living It! This January

Throughout the month of January, The Birches Assisted Living is undertaking a 4-week campaign that encourages participants to grow physically, socially, intellectually, and spiritually. The campaign is called Living It! and it offers a worthy challenge to those who are willing to accept it: embrace new pursuits by trying four new activities each week for four weeks.

The Birches participates in the Living It! Campaign as a part of its Masterpiece Living Program, which is based on a 10-year MacArthur Foundation Study on Aging that revealed healthy aging is determined more by lifestyle than by genetics. Through the Masterpiece Living philosophy, The Birches promotes a successful aging lifestyle that inspires its residents and associates to live life to the fullest at every age.

Each week of the Living It! Campaign will focus on one of the four components of wellness identified in Masterpiece Living: social, intellectual, physical, and spiritual. When the week is over, participants will gather together to discuss their experience, encourage one another, and celebrate the progress they’ve made so far.

The first full week of the month was “Social Week,” and The Birches hosted several activities to encourage residents and associates to get engaged and have fun with one another, including a Tea Party and a visit from guitarist and vocalist John Boda. For “Intellectual Week,” The Birches provided various options for “brain aerobics” including Bingo in Spanish because learning a new language is one of the best ways to exercise your intellect.

Upcoming is “Physical Week” when The Birches will keep itself moving with the sports videogame Kinect Sports, balloon volleyball, and a pep talk from Birches’ fitness trainer Rich Jeka. During the last week of January, The Birches community will take some time to nourish their spirit with activities like “Moving to Music,” a visit to the Garfield Park Conservatory, painting with watercolors, and the opportunity to participate in a spiritual service.

Even though the Living It! Campaign will be over at the end of January, the philosophy behind the campaign can act as a motivating force in our lives throughout the year.  It can remind us that each day is the perfect opportunity to live life to the fullest, try something new, and to keep growing socially, intellectually, physically, and spiritually. In other words, each day is the perfect opportunity to keep Living It!