Nancy Merz Nordstrom, author of Learning Later, Living Greater: The Secret of Making the Most of Your After 50 Years will share the benefits of Lifelong Learning on Thursdays.

LEARNING LATER, LIVING GREATER:
The Secret for Making the Most of Your After-50 Years.

…a Health Club for Your Mind. Body and Spirit!

Continuing our discussion of Next Chapters opportunities…

In more than 20 communities throughout America, this concept is being turned into tangible programs. Here are some examples.

Chicago Life Opportunities Initiative, Council for the Jewish Elderly – Chicago, Illinois –

As part of the Chicago Life Opportunities Initiative, the Council for Jewish Elderly in conjunction with Loyola University School of Social Work, created an assessment tool called “Mapping Your Future Your Way.” The tool can be used online or in a printed version. Mapping Your Future helps people understand the need for planning and begin to explore their interests in five areas–health, work and leisure, finances, housing and relationships. For each topic, the tool provides a framework of issues to think about and the online version links to other web sites with related information.

Pathways to Vital Living: A Curriculum for Midlife and Beyond, Senior Resources Alliance-Winter Park, Florida -

The Pathways to Vital Living curriculum was developed by the Senior Resource Alliance, the Area Agency on Aging of Central Florida, in collaboration with the Winter Park Health Foundation. It provides a planning and program kit for conducting twelve workshops on varied topics such as: relationship transitions, intentional recreation, meaningful service, mental vitality, and spiritual development. It uses interactive, experiential learning to help older adults assess and explore nine key areas to help them make important life choices.

What’s Next!, Fairhill Center for Aging – Cleveland, Ohio–

As part of the Cleveland Foundation’s Successful Aging Initiative, the What’s Next! Program at Fairhill Center for Aging offers a seminar series where older adults meet in two-hour, weekly sessions to dream, discover, share, and plan for the years ahead, and to develop a lifelong learning plan that encompasses wellness, creativity, values, and spirituality. Facilitators assist with taking stock of personal resources and guidance to a vast array of course offerings and learning opportunities.

Cleveland Metroparks Emerald Neckland O.W.L.S.-Cleveland, Ohio–

The Emerald Necklace O.W.L.S. (Older Workers Leading Success) offers intergenerational opportunities and increased participation of adults 50 years and older as employees, volunteers and participants in public park programs and facilities. It includes three components: 1) older adult volunteer mentors and tutors working with students as part of a park intern program; 2) a volunteer corps to monitor trails; and 3) older adult employment, including recruitment and job-sharing. This project is supported through the Elder Engagement component of The Cleveland Foundation’s Successful Aging Initiative.

Retired Social Workers – An Untapped Resource, National Association of Social Workers Illinois Chapter–Chicago, Illinois-

The Retired Social Workers is sponsored by the National Association of Social Workers and encourage retired social workers to return to social work to serve older adults as paid professionals. The program includes two key components: 1) professional development to re-orient retired social workers to current conditions, agency changes, and present senior issues and attitudes; and 2) placement into positions – as part-time, intermittent or full-time workers – to provide services and support for older adults. As one of its many programs, the Retired Social Workers received a grant from the Chicago Community Trust to place and pay retired social workers for the Chicago Life Opportunities Initiative.

THURSDAY’S THOUGHT…

I believe strongly that our members find personal growth from the social aspects of our program as well as from the academic, says one lifelong learner. The programs discussed here are perfect examples of what she says.

For more information on Learning Later, Living Greater visit http://www.learninglater.com/ You can purchase Learning Later, Living Greater at http://www.amazon.com/

Till Next Time…

Nancy Merz Nordstrom, author of Learning Later, Living Greater: The Secret of Making the Most of Your After 50 Years will share the benefits of Lifelong Learning on Thursdays.

LEARNING LATER, LIVING GREATER:

The Secret for Making the Most of Your After-50 Years.

Lifelong Learning in Your Later Years…

A Health Club for Your Mind, Body, and Spirit!

Here are some ways Lifelong Learners engage in meaningful community service.

The Institute for Continuing Learning (ICL) at Young Harris College in Georgia is an excellent example of engaging in both lifelong learning and community service. This excerpt is taken from an article in their spring newsletter, written by Lucy Scofield.

Almost all ICL members are great volunteers. They all have “causes” and they give freely of their time and enthusiasm. With most, it has been a way of life ever since we sold Girl Scout cookies and such when we were young.

ICL itself is non-profit and totally dependent upon the active support of its membership. We teach, organize, keep books, publish bulletins of course schedules and write this quarterly newsletter to the membership. This is necessary for the group’s survival.

However, there is another side to the lives of ICL members. We participate in so many different activities that it is impossible to name them all in this space. But here is a sampling of activities in which members have recently participated.

• Working with the American Cancer Society
• Activities in Habitat for Humanity
• Involvement in the Friends of the Library
• Volunteers at the Union County Nursing Home
• Active in the Hiwassee River Watershed Coalition
• Volunteering at the Union County Chamber of Commerce
• Teaching reading and math to detainees at the Colwell Detention Center
• Delivering Meals on Wheels
• Giving of time and talent to SAFE, the shelter for abused women and families
• Hospice volunteers
• Devoting time to the Mountain Shelter’s Humane Society of Union and Towns Counties
  
  THURSDAY’S THOUGHT…
  

According to a Mayo Clinic Health Letter from 2001, studies have shown that older adults who volunteer live longer than their peers who do not volunteer. Now that’s a very compelling reason to get out and give a bit of your talent and experience for the greater good.

For more information on Learning Later, Living Greater visit http://www.learninglater.com/ You can purchase Learning Later, Living Greater at http://www.amazon.com/
Till Next Time…

Lifelong Learning Thursday

Nancy Merz Nordstrom, author of Learning Later, Living Greater: The Secret of Making the Most of Your After 50 Years will share the benefits of Lifelong Learning on Thursdays.

LEARNING LATER, LIVING GREATER:

The Secret for Making the Most of Your After-50 Years.

Lifelong Learning in Your Later Years…

A Health Club for Your Mind, Body, and Spirit!

This week we’ll take a look at the development of Elderhostel, Inc., North America’s first and largest not-for-profit, educational travel provider.

Everything started with one aging non-conformist, a college educator, and concern for the plight of older adults in the climate of the 1970s. What emerged was a brand new opportunity for enrichment and fulfillment in your later years – Elderhostel, Inc.

In the late 1960s, Elderhostel co-founders Martin (Marty) P. Knowlton, a social and educational innovator and David Bianco, a graduate student at Boston University, met while both worked at the residential student program at BU. They were drawn to each other by the unconventionality of their thinking. Both were impatient with the status quo and wanted to explore ways to make education more meaningful. While at BU they collaborated on an article published in the Journal of Education in 1969. In this article, “A Proposal: An Institute of International Life at Boston University,” the roots of what would later become Elderhostel were very evident.

Jump ahead to 1974. Marty Knowlton, had just returned from a four-year backpacking trip across Europe. While there he participated in archeological digs in England and Germany and became familiar with youth hostel programs and the folk-schools of Scandinavia. He was “impressed by the way in which the availability of a network of modest accommodations encouraged and nurtured an adventuresome hostelling spirit in European youth.” He also observed “the very positive impact a residential setting had on adult education programs offered by the folk high schools.”

In the meantime, David Bianco, after serving three years as the Dean of Freshmen at Brandeis University, was now working as Director of Residential Life at the University of New Hampshire. The University had called for a major effort to look at ways the campus could be utilized during the summer. This led to the development of UNH’s American Youth Hostel program, and thanks to their earlier collaboration, Marty was invited to become Director of that program.

Reunited, Marty and David once again began to look at innovative ways education could be improved. Marty, just back from his European travels was talking with David about what he had witnessed. In Marty’s words,

“I was talking with…David, and I was telling him some of the experiences I’d had in Europe with older people, some of which David found rather exciting. And in a burst of enthusiasm, he said to me: This campus ought not to be having a youth hostel, it ought to be having an elder hostel” And there was the day. It was one of those occasions, a serendipitous occasion. The name came first, and we put the program under it.”

After that epiphany, it was all hard work on Marty and David’s part. They spent long hours discussing the program concept, what this nontraditional initiative should and should not be, program details and the cost. Early on they agreed that the format of the program should mirror that of the European youth hostels–a residential program with simple, affordable accommodations.

Both men strongly believed that “when you’re older you learn every bit as well as you ever learned…and probably better.” Therefore the program would have a strong educational component, but the courses would be not-for-credit. They also agreed that the program would be strictly for older adults, and they set the minimum age at 60.

From these early brainstorming sessions, other University faculty and administrators became involved. Letters were sent to people who would be likely to be interested in this new and innovative concept of elderlearning.

It was decided that older adults would go to college campuses to attend week-long educational programs for the joint purposes of “self-enhancement” and the “development of an elderly cadre for community integration.” More field study took place. Colleges and older adults were polled about how they saw this kind of program developing and what they wanted offered. After months of hard work writing grant proposals, developing curriculum and marketing materials, and rounding up support, in the summer of 1975 Elderhostel, Inc. opened its doors.

About that first summer Marty Knowlton says,

“We worked like slaves trying to generate an audience for our courses. And the first Elderhostel met and there were only six people. But we held it – we lasted through the week. We were delighted with the experience and so were the hostelers. And the next week, there were seven. And the next week because the first week group had gone home and begun to talk about it, we had thirteen in the class. And after the fourth week of Elderhostel, for the rest of the summer season we were filled right up and were beginning to turn people away.”

By the end of that first summer 220 hostelers had stayed in campus dorms while attending courses. That number swelled to over 300 when commuters were added to the mix. When participants were asked if they would like to return the next year, every single participant said “yes.” This was the beginning of a pattern of multiple program attendance, of “Elderhostelism,” as it became known. The hostelers had also shown great enthusiasm and vigor for the educational programs, proving that the idea of older adults as used-up, useless and incapable of learning, was very wrong.

The growth of Elderhostel was phenomenal. In 1975, five New Hampshire colleges offered fifteen weeks of programs to 220 participants. In 1976, twenty-one colleges in six states offered sixty-nine program weeks to 2,000 enrollees and another 2,000 applicants were turned away. By the third summer, sixty-one colleges in twelve states offered 156 program weeks and there were almost 6,000 applicants for 4,800 enrollment openings.

The rest, as they say, is history. Within ten years Elderhostel was offering programs in all 50 states and had begun to expand internationally.

The above was taken from The Story of Elderhostel, by E.S. Mills.

THURSDAY’S THOUGHT…
The economic historian, Arnold Toynbee said, To be able to fill leisure intelligently is the last product of civilization. The immediate success of Elderhostel certainly personifies this quote as older adults flocked to the new programs, intent on filling their leisure time intelligently.

For more information on Learning Later, Living Greater visit www.learninglater.com

You can purchase Learning Later, Living Greater at www.amazon.com

Till Next Time…

Nancy Merz Nordstrom is Director of the Lifelong Learning Department at Computer School for Seniors (www.cs4seniors.com)

Lifelong Learning Thursday

Nancy Merz Nordstrom, author of Learning Later, Living Greater: The Secret of Making the Most of Your After 50 Years will share the benefits of Lifelong Learning on Thursdays.

LEARNING LATER, LIVING GREATER:

The Secret for Making the Most of Your After-50 Years.

Lifelong Learning in Your Later Years…

A Health Club for Your Mind, Body, and Spirit!

Now it’s time to talk about educational travel providers.

Over the last 34 years, due to the unparalleled success of Elderhostel, Inc., educational travel has grown exponentially. Over the next few weeks, we’ll take a look at some of the best programs available to older adults.

Today, however, travel providers are very aware that educational travel is here to stay. As the Baby Boomers-the most educated generation in history-move into their later years, travel organizations are scrambling to offer programs with educational content. Not all of them, however, are doing a good job.

The less reputable firms simply toss in a lecture or two and call it an educational travel program. It’s a thinly-veiled attempt to lure the unsuspecting. So, as with everything else, it’s imperative that you do your homework. Look over the itinerary, study the curriculum offerings and decide for yourself if the program you are interested in suits your needs.

Since we will be looking at some of the best programs, we therefore begin with the story of Elderhostel, Inc. As the pioneers and founders of the educational travel industry for older adults, their history sets the tone for this topic, and their programs are the “gold standard” by which all other educational travel programs are measured.

Next week - The Story of Elderhostel

THURSDAY’S THOUGHT…
“He who does not travel does not know the value of men.” So says an old Moorish proverb. Nothing gives you a better sense of your fellow human beings than to learn about them in their home area. It’s an incredibly enlightening endeavor.

For more information on Learning Later, Living Greater visit www.learninglater.com

You can purchase Learning Later, Living Greater at www.amazon.com

Till Next Time…

Nancy Merz Nordstrom is Director of the Lifelong Learning Department at Computer School for Seniors (www.cs4seniors.com)

Lifelong Learning Thursday

LEARNING LATER, LIVING GREATER:

The Secret for Making the Most of Your After-50 Years.

Lifelong Learning in Your Later Years…

A Health Club for Your Mind, Body, and Spirit!

Last week we took a brief look at the history of educational travel. Today, let’s look at program format, and bring together some miscellaneous thoughts about educational travel.

Most educational travel programs offer the participant a combination of lectures, field trips and free time. Here’s a quick overview of a typical international program.

In the morning, you might listen to a lecture by a well-known expert in a particular field (for example, the building of the castles of Germany.) Then you might view a slide show while listening to an audio presentation on the history of the castle inhabitants.

After lunch you would visit one of those castles with your group, armed with what you had learned in the morning and escorted by a competent and knowledgeable guide.

Later, you might eat dinner with a local family whose ancestors were directly affected by the daily activities at the castle.

Finally, you would slip into bed having experienced a day full of learning, exploring, and personal growth. You don’t get this type of satisfaction sitting on a beach soaking up the sun.

Each day’s format would roughly follow this outline of lectures, field trips, cultural interaction, and reflection. Each day would be full of activities guaranteed to simulate your mind, body and spirit, keeping you challenged while still having fun.

Here are some miscellaneous thoughts about educational travel:

• Traveling by yourself is easier on an educational travel program because you’ll be in the company of like-minded adults.
• If you prefer, there are organizations that will match you with a traveling companion.
• Regardless of physical capability, special interest or budgetary challenge, there are plenty of exciting travel options for you to consider.
• The travel industry is aware of the growing interest in travel for enrichment and more and more tour operators are gearing their offerings in this direction.
• There are service/educational travel programs that offer the opportunity to give of your skills and experience by volunteering in a new location.
• Educational travel gives you the opportunity to learn all about a new location, with all its foibles, allowing you to appreciate what you already have.

THURSDAY’S THOUGHT…

Samuel Johnson said, “All travel has its advantages. If the passenger visits better countries, he may learn to improve his own. And if fortune carries him to worse, he may learn to enjoy it.”

For more information on Learning Later, Living Greater visit www.learninglater.com

You can purchase Learning Later, Living Greater at www.amazon.com

Till Next Time…

Nancy Merz Nordstrom is Director of the Lifelong Learning Department at Computer School for Seniors (www.cs4seniors.com)

Lifelong Learning Thursday

Making the Most of Your After 50 Years will share the benefits of Lifelong Learning on Thursdays.

LEARNING LATER, LIVING GREATER:

The Secret for Making the Most of Your After-50 Years.

Lifelong Learning in Your Later Years…

A Health Club for Your Mind, Body, and Spirit!

Let’s continue our study of the many aspects of educational travel by taking a few minutes to look at its history.

Explorers, since the time of the Arabs in 800 A.D., Marco Polo in 1200 A.D., and more recently from the Middle Ages on, have written memoirs about their travels. Those writings opened the world up for the rest of us to experience. This was the first real incarnation of educational travel.

In the 16th century, northern Europeans traveled to great centers of learning and to the ruins of the classical civilizations of Italy and Greece. These travels were chronicled in letters and other writings sent back to their homeland and formed the basis for further exploration and learning. As is evidenced by these works, while they were covering the ground outwardly, they were also advancing inwardly.

In the mid-19th century, thanks to social change and the new technologies of the Industrial Revolution, intrepid men and women traveled throughout the world in organized pursuit of knowledge. And, it was during the 1830s that Baedeker wrote the first modern guidebooks.

It has been said that the writings of the men who traveled during this time tended to cover the “what” and “where,” while the women travelers (especially those who traveled during the Victorian Era, the golden age of women travelers) tended toward the “how” and “why.” Their writings, even today fuel the desire in many of us to learn more.

Judith Adler, writing about the history of sightseeing (1989) says that “Most travel was not for sightseeing, but to encounter important people and civilizations and to visit sacred places.”

In the 19th and early 20th century, independent travel by those who could afford it, was just about the only way to learn about other cultures. The Chautauqua Movement that we talked about previously, brought education to the common man. To learn, however, people did not have to travel much further than their own hometown.

Today, things have changed. People are living longer, have more free time and more money. Thanks to technology they can travel wherever and whenever they want. But the emphasis of most of this travel has not been on education. It’s been on having fun, relaxing, and de-stressing.

Colleges and universities have tried over the years to shift that emphasis toward educational travel by offering opportunities to their students and graduates through student-exchange, study abroad, and alumni travel programs. Many other people, however, were missing out on the opportunity of learning and traveling at the same time. And of those, most were older adults. There was nothing out there geared specifically to their needs and wants in the way of educational travel.

The lack of educational travel opportunities for older adults came to an end in 1975 when Elderhostel, Inc. came into existence. These modern-day explorers have opened the door to the world-wide opportunities of lifelong learning for older adults. They have brought educational travel into the 21st century.

Today, thanks to Elderhostel, the field of educational travel is booming, not just for older adults but for all ages. We will take a look at both the history of Elderhostel and the current state of educational travel in the next few weeks.

For now, however, think of travel as an educational, spiritual and even a creative atmosphere, an atmosphere that broadens our self-understanding. And self-understanding is what the journey of our “After-50” years should be all about.

THURSDAY’S THOUGHT…
Mark Twain said, “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness.” The early educational travelers began the difficult task of trying to eliminate these prejudices. It’s up to us to continue the work they started.

For more information on Learning Later, Living Greater visit www.learninglater.com

You can purchase Learning Later, Living Greater at www.amazon.com

Till Next Time…

Nancy Merz Nordstrom is Director of the Lifelong Learning Department at Computer School for Seniors (www.cs4seniors.com)

Lifelong Learning Thursday

Nancy Merz Nordstrom, author of Learning Later, Living Greater: The Secret of Making the Most of Your After 50 Years will share the benefits of Lifelong Learning on Thursdays.

LEARNING LATER, LIVING GREATER:

The Secret for Making the Most of Your After-50 Years.

Lifelong Learning in Your Later Years…

A Health Club for Your Mind, Body, and Spirit!

Last week we started exploring the world of Educational Travel. Let’s continue our journey.

Today, people tend to think the words “travel” and “vacation” are synonymous. They think of them as a break from work, as ways to seek out leisure, and avoid anything “serious.”

But please, don’t confuse the two. There is a real difference.

Vacations are just that–vacations, and they certainly have a valuable place in our lives. But in these blogs we will be talking about travel–Educational Travel.

Yes, educational travel is certainly fun, but at the same time you are learning about the history, the culture, the politics, and absorbing the essence of the place you are visiting. You are not soaking up the sun on a beach or heading toward the 18th hole. That belongs in another part of your life.

As technology shrinks our world and brings us all closer together, the opportunity to learn about our neighbors grows. Don’t we owe it to ourselves to delve into this landscape and explore the cultures of different people?

By doing so, we learn all about their history, the rise of their civilization and perhaps its downfall. By viewing both the highs and lows, we come away with a much better view of not just them, but also ourselves. Educational travel gives us the ability to do this in ways nothing else can. It gives us the opportunity to immerse ourselves in the exotic spectrum of life on Earth.

Educational travel leaves us with much more than a typical vacation. We gain a deeper knowledge of the world. We get to experience life; to truly live it.

It can be a life-changing experience, as I can personally attest to what it has done for me. Once we are through exploring the concept, benefits and opportunities of educational travel, I will chronicle for you in this blog, the story of how educational travel changed my life.

THURSDAY’S THOUGHT…

St. Augustine said, “The world is a book, and those who do not travel read only a page.” I can’t imagine reading only one page of a book. Even if you don’t have the ability to travel a lot (and most people don’t), making educational travel a small part of your life gives you yet another opportunity to help turn your After-50 years into the very best years of your life.

For more information on Learning Later, Living Greater visit www.learninglater.com

You can purchase Learning Later, Living Greater at www.amazon.com

Till Next Time…

Nancy Merz Nordstrom is Director of the Lifelong Learning Department at Computer School for Seniors (www.cs4seniors.com)

Lifelong Learning Thursday

Nancy Merz Nordstrom, author of Learning Later, Living Greater: The Secret of Making the Most of Your After 50 Years will share the benefits of Lifelong Learning on Thursdays.

LEARNING LATER, LIVING GREATER:

The Secret for Making the Most of Your After-50 Years.

Lifelong Learning in Your Later Years…

A Health Club for Your Mind, Body, and Spirit!

The validation of lifelong learning by philanthropic and civic organizations speaks volumes as to the importance of continuing to learn. If you’re still wondering about the value of later-life learning, here are two interesting examples.

The state of Mississippi, in recognizing the value and importance of lifelong learning for older adults, has developed a program called Certified Retirement Cities. In order to receive this designation there are certain requirements that must be met, chief among them the availability of high quality, educational and cultural opportunities for older adults. Therefore, the lifelong learning programs found in these Certified Retirement Cities are outstanding examples of later-life learning venues, which are prominently featured in all the State’s retirement and relocation literature. Texas has also begun a similar initiative, and several other states are reviewing it as well.

We’ve mentioned before that the Bernard Osher Foundation gives $100,000 grants to lifelong learning programs around the country. They started this initiative in Maine, where a number of senior colleges were already in operation. The funding has made a huge difference to the programs already established and to the new ones that have been started thanks to these extra funds. Maine now has a state-wide network of lifelong learning programs coordinated through the University of Southern Maine in Portland. Not only do the programs share their talent and resources, they also meet once a year to trade ideas, get to know each other better, and promote lifelong learning. It’s a wonderful program that brings the concept, benefits and opportunities of later-life learning to far-flung Mainers, many of whom live at a distance from the larger population areas.

You can certainly say that lifelong learning has arrived and is getting stronger every single day.

THURSDAY’S THOUGHT…
Rabbi Harry Sky, the founder of the Senior College movement in Maine, says, “As long as the mind is stimulated, the body will flourish.” There is no doubt that lifelong learning helps keep our minds stimulated, our bodies active and our spirits flourishing.

For more information on Learning Later, Living Greater visit www.learninglater.com

You can purchase Learning Later, Living Greater at www.amazon.com

Till Next Time…

Nancy Merz Nordstrom is Director of the Lifelong Learning Department at Computer School for Seniors (www.cs4seniors.com)

Lifelong Learning Thursday

Nancy Merz Nordstrom, author of Learning Later, Living Greater: The Secret of Making the Most of Your After 50 Years will share the benefits of Lifelong Learning on Thursdays.

LEARNING LATER, LIVING GREATER:
The Secret for Making the Most of Your After-50 Years.

Lifelong Learning in Your Later Years…
A Health Club for Your Mind, Body, and Spirit!

Last week we looked at some facts about lifelong learning programs. This week let’s look at the participants themselves. They personify lifelong learning at its best.

The camaraderie at a program fills the classrooms and spills into the halls, the cafeteria, and even out in the parking lot. Stimulating discussions echo in the air. Laughter, intensity and a real joie de vie envelop everyone involved. To an outsider at first glance it might seem like a group of young people intent on comparing the latest rock bands. But a second look would show these students are special: they’ve experienced life and all it has to offer. They are truly living!

Closer study shows that participants are self-motivated learners, intent on making their later years the very best they can be. They come from all walks of life. Some have college degrees. Others do not. In the types of programs we are discussing, it’s a level playing field.

Members are dedicated students of retirement age, whose common bonds are intellectual curiosity and generational experiences. They share opinions, knowledge, and expertise with humor, creativity, mutual respect and an intense vitality. The volunteer work each member does at a program helps create a well-run learning environment full of diversity, insight, wisdom and intellectual and cultural stimulation. At the same time, they get to share in the joys of learning and friendship while being challenged to broaden their horizons.

In other words, everyone is there to keep their brains active and alert. Everyone is there for the sheer joy of learning. Everyone has something to contribute because all members have life experiences that have shaped and formed them. Life experience is experiential learning at its very best!

All members bring their experiences to the classroom. Give and take between the members and the course facilitators is a hallmark of lifelong learning programs. The facilitator learns as much from the participants as the participants do from the facilitator.

Unless it’s a special lecture, most of the time you will not find “talking heads” in these classes. Rather you will find facilitators anxious to guide participants on a journey of self-discovery, finding a new way to look at an old topic, listening to both sides of an issue, exploring the world of something new and exciting in a relaxed and stimulating environment. In other words, these lifelong learning programs are the perfect learning venue.




THURSDAY’S THOUGHT…
Mortimer Adler, American philosopher, educator and author said, “The purpose of learning is growth, and our minds, unlike our bodies, can continue growing as we continue to live.” This is exactly what those who participate in lifelong learning programs are doing - they are continuing to live, and not letting their ages interfere with living life to the fullest.

For more information on Learning Later, Living Greater visit www.learninglater.com

You can purchase Learning Later, Living Greater at www.amazon.com

Till Next Time…

Nancy Merz Nordstrom is Director of the Lifelong Learning Department at Computer School for Seniors (www.cs4seniors.com)

Lifelong Learning Thursday

Nancy Merz Nordstrom, author of Learning Later, Living Greater: The Secret of Making the Most of Your After 50 Years will share the benefits of Lifelong Learning on Thursdays.

LEARNING LATER, LIVING GREATER:

The Secret for Making the Most of Your After-50 Years.

Lifelong Learning in Your Later Years…

A Health Club for Your Mind, Body, and Spirit!

This week let’s take a look at some details of lifelong learning institutes.

• Each LLI is a unique, self-sufficient entity with its own set of guidelines, courses and activities.
• Each LLI goes by its own name but all are Lifelong Learning Institutes or LLIs.
• Programs are well-run learning environments full of wisdom, diversity and intellectual and cultural stimulation.
• Each LLI has a strong sense of community among its members.
• All Institutes are very reasonably priced. Most have a small membership fee and/or course fees.
• A typical LLI has 200-400 members. But some have several thousand members.
• Classes are held during the day.
• During any one term, more than 5,000 courses are available at LLIs across the country.
• A typical program offers 20-40 courses per term, and has two or three terms each year.
• Most members take two or three courses per term.
• Classes can be held on college campuses and/or in local community facilities.
• Classes can be peer-led, facilitated by current or retired faculty, or led by outside experts.
• An atmosphere of shared experiences, not a lecture format, is prevalent in all classrooms.
• There is never any homework. There are no tests. Grades are not given.
• LLIs are open to anyone regardless of previous academic experiences.
• The only requirement to join is a desire to keep your mind active and stimulated.
• Social activities can include field trips, all types of social outings and group travel.
• Volunteers usually staff LLIs, although some have paid office staff.
• Members make up all the necessary committees such as Curriculum, Special Events and Long-range planning.
• Members staff the governing boards and make all decisions about the LLI.
• Members can and usually are active in service to their communities.

THURSDAY’S THOUGHT…

Although programs are set up a bit differently from one another, all have one big thing in common – they are made up of people who want to learn in order to keep their brains sharp, their bodies active, and their spirits fulfilled. It really is learning for the sheer joy of learning!

For more information on Learning Later, Living Greater visit www.learninglater.com

You can purchase Learning Later, Living Greater at www.amazon.com

Till Next Time…

Nancy Merz Nordstrom is Director of the Lifelong Learning Department at Computer School for Seniors (www.cs4seniors.com)

Lifelong Learning Thursday

Nancy Merz Nordstrom, author of Learning Later, Living Greater: The Secret of Making the Most of Your After 50 Years will share the benefits of Lifelong Learning on Thursdays.

LEARNING LATER, LIVING GREATER:
The Secret for Making the Most of Your After-50 Years.

Lifelong Learning in Your Later Years…
A Health Club for Your Mind, Body, and Spirit!

Now that we know a little about the origins of the “learning in retirement” movement, let’s explore Lifelong Learning Institutes (LLI) over these next few weeks.

Lifelong Learning Institutes are programs run by and for older adults. Most of the programs that belong to the Elderhostel Institute Network are housed under the auspices of a college or university. But not all.

Today, more and more programs are starting up, independent of colleges and universities. Many are being developed at active adult retirement communities and others at continuing care communities. Some are stand-alone programs formed by local residents within a community.

Whether formed with the help of a local college or university or by committed older adults, all but a very few programs are open to anyone, regardless of previous academic history. These programs offer a nice mix of college level, non-credit courses and social events.

So what makes them different from community or adult education programs? First of all, they are run by and for older adults, usually over the age of 50. People “join” these programs and pay a low membership dues. This fosters a sense of “ownership” and commitment among members. A strong volunteer aspect and a real feeling of community are also hallmarks of such programs. LLIs are run and attended by local people who commute to the program. They participate regularly year after year and get to know one another as friends, co-volunteers and classmates.

Each Lifelong Learning Institute is unique. They all have their own names, although generically they are referred to as LLIs. There are variables within each program, depending on how they are set-up. Academic study, travel/study, membership activities, financial accountability, community outreach, public relations–all are developed and expanded by direct member input and decision-making.

THURSDAY’S THOUGHT…

Thoughts from one lifelong learning institute member…”We base everything on the belief that our capacity to learn and grow does not decrease as our years increase. In fact, through learning and the adventures we embark on, we actually embrace self-fulfillment.” Wow! I don’t think life doesn’t get any better than that!

For more information on Learning Later, Living Greater visit www.learninglater.com

You can purchase Learning Later, Living Greater at www.amazon.com

Till Next Time…

Nancy Merz Nordstrom is Director of the Lifelong Learning Department at Computer School for Seniors (www.cs4seniors.com)

Lifelong Learning Thursday

Nancy Merz Nordstrom, author of Learning Later, Living Greater: The Secret of Making the Most of Your After 50 Years will share the benefits of Lifelong Learning on Thursdays.

LEARNING LATER, LIVING GREATER:
The Secret for Making the Most of Your After-50 Years.

Lifelong Learning in Your Later Years…
A Health Club for Your Mind, Body, and Spirit!

Last week we talked about the Elderhostel Institute Network and its role in helping grow the “learning in retirement” movement. Today we’ll briefly discuss another, smaller network that is helping to promote the concept, benefits and opportunities of lifelong learning for older adults.

That network is ALIROW, the Association for Learning in Retirement Organizations of the West. ALIROW is an active association of independent Learning in Retirement (LIR) associations. Their member-directed activities are generally located on campuses of sponsoring universities and colleges of the Western United States.

ALIROW Council members meet periodically to exchange information and to learn the skills and requirements needed to insure the successful operation of the individual campus organizations. All officers and delegates serve as volunteers. There is no paid staff. ALIROW is supported through nominal dues.

Formally organized in 1984, they are the first umbrella organization to support university level, self-directed learning institutes for retirement age learners. ALIROW supports the educational objectives of all national associations related to learning in retirement. Their goal is to cooperate with everyone in the academic community who support this rapidly growing movement.

Most of the LLIs who belong to ALIROW also belong to the Elderhostel Institute Network, increasing their resources even further. Thirty-six programs in Arizona, California, Oregon, Nevada Washington and British Columbia belong to the ALIROW network.

THURSDAY’S THOUGHT…

Get over the idea that only children should spend their time in study. Be a student so long as you still have something to learn, and this will mean all your life. ~Henry L. Doherty. The growth of both the Elderhostel Institute Network, which was discussed last week, and ALIROW prove that there is real value in continuing to learn no matter what your age.

For more information on Learning Later, Living Greater visit www.learninglater.com

You can purchase Learning Later, Living Greater at www.amazon.com

Till Next Time…

Nancy Merz Nordstrom is Director of the Lifelong Learning Department at Computer School for Seniors (www.cs4seniors.com)

Lifelong Learning Thursday

Nancy Merz Nordstrom, author of Learning Later, Living Greater: The Secret of Making the Most of Your After 50 Years will share the benefits of Lifelong Learning on Thursdays.

LEARNING LATER, LIVING GREATER:

The Secret for Making the Most of Your After-50 Years.

Lifelong Learning in Your Later Years…

A Health Club for Your Mind, Body, and Spirit!

The lifelong learning movement for older adults got a huge boost with the entry of Elderhostel, Inc. Let’s spend a few minutes today learning more about how this happened.

As lifelong learning programs were being developed at colleges and universities, Elderhostel too, since its start in 1975, had been growing rapidly. By the mid-1980s, the not-for-profit organization was running a very successful, large, decentralized operation offering educational travel programs to older adults.

Their expertise was just what the founders of the “learning in retirement” movement were looking for as they struggled to help start new programs all over the country. So, it was only natural that Elderhostel and these early pioneers of lifelong learning should come together, as their missions were the same – outstanding educational opportunities for older adults.

So, in 1988, after informal discussions between the leaders of both groups, the Elderhostel Institute Network (EIN) opened its doors at Elderhostel headquarters in New Hampshire. The mission of EIN was and is, to strengthen and support the effectiveness of lifelong learning institutes (LLIs), to encourage the establishment of new institutes, and to disseminate information about the institutes and the movement in general.

Between 1988 and 1999, a staff of five Elderhostel employees traveled all across the country leading workshops and giving advice on how to start new lifelong learning institutes, then called Institutes for Learning in Retirement or ILRs.

According to Jim Verschueren, EIN’s first director:

“It was not an easy start. Among the perhaps 75 ILRs at the time the Network was launched, several were skeptical of Elderhostel’s involvement. Would the well-established, international organization attempt to take over?" As one member asked in a large, public meeting, “Is this like the federal government – bringing good things to us with all kinds of strings attached?” Over time, as all associated with the Network worked hard to support, but never to direct the exponential growth of ILRs, much of the resistance subsided. To the Network’s credit, promotion of the ILR concept immediately bore fruit. As new ILRs were launched at an ever-increasing pace, affiliations grew annually, from fewer than 100 the first year to almost 300 by year six.”

More than 200 new programs were started during these years. Today, the Elderhostel Institute Network continues to grow, and is still focused on its primary three-pronged mission. It is North America’s largest and most respected educational network for older adults, with almost 400 affiliated lifelong learning institutes. And, Elderhostel, now headquartered in Boston, still provides support and guidance to EIN as the Network continues to work with all the programs through its web site: www.elderhostel.org/ein/intro.asp and email: network@elderhostel.org.

THURSDAY’S THOUGHT…

America’s storyteller, Louis L’Amour said, Knowledge is like money: to be of value it must circulate, and in circulating it can increase in quantity and, hopefully, in value. Thanks to the involvement of Elderhostel in helping circulate the lifelong learning movement, millions of older adults now have more meaningful later lives.

For more information on Learning Later, Living Greater visit www.learninglater.com

You can purchase Learning Later, Living Greater at www.amazon.com

Till Next Time…

Nancy Merz Nordstrom is Director of the Lifelong Learning Department at Computer School for Seniors (www.cs4seniors.com)

Lifelong Learning Thursday

Nancy Merz Nordstrom, author of Learning Later, Living Greater: The Secret of Making the Most of Your After 50 Years will share the benefits of Lifelong Learning on Thursdays.

LEARNING LATER, LIVING GREATER:
The Secret for Making the Most of Your After-50 Years.

Lifelong Learning in Your Later Years…
A Health Club for Your Mind, Body, and Spirit!

So, now that we’ve seen some concrete examples of the validation of lifelong learning, what do others say about the value of continuing to learn, no matter what our ages? Here is a sampling of their thoughts and comments.

In the words of Harvey MacKay, author of four New York Times bestsellers, “You don’t go to school once for a lifetime; you are in school all of your life. That’s why they call graduation “commencement”–it’s just the beginning.”

He goes on to say, “You can grow as much as you want to. Your mind has plenty of room to hold information. We typically use only 10% of our brains. Would you be satisfied to get that little service out of any other part of your body?” …We live in the information age, the space age, the early years of the new Millennium. Technology has given us access to facts and figures and people and places at the touch of a button. We have every opportunity to learn and grow at any hour of the day. Today is the right time to start expanding your mind.”

And, if the 1990s were the mandated “Decade of the Brain,” then it has been suggested by Sandra Timmermann, Director of the MetLife Mature Market Institute in Westport, Connecticut that the 2000s will be the decade known as the “Mainstream Era” for older adult lifelong learning. She cites several reasons for this.

1. Research on the brain and how the mind works has revolutionized the way we think about learning as we age.

2. More nontraditional organizations and institutions want to know about older adults–what they are experiencing physically, socially and emotionally–and how to provide information to them most effectively.

3. The boomers will take lifelong learning for granted and incorporate education in their lives well into old age.

4. Continual learning is increasingly viewed as helping older adults unleash the creativity and find meaning in their lives.

5. There will always be committed, creative individuals who will have an idea, a concept for an adult-learning program that will capture our imaginations and take off.

Furthermore, another in-process research study involving aging has released the following preliminary results, again demonstrating the benefit to persons involved in programs where creativity is an ingredient:

· Better overall health
· Significantly fewer doctor visits
· Diminished use of medications
· Significantly less depression and loneliness
· Increased involvement in activities.

And today, as Harvey MacKay said, is the right time to start expanding your mind. You are taking that first step just by reading this column. At no other time in history has our society been so poised to accept the value of later life learning. Let yourself be part of it!

THURSDAY’S THOUGHT…

Martina Horner, a past president of Radcliffe College, has said, “What is important is to keep learning, and enjoy challenge...” Lifelong learning, as the research shows, makes our lives better. Since each of us has to live our entire life with ourselves, doesn’t it make sense for us to want to be informed, reasoning and interesting beings? By engaging in lifelong learning, we will be those informed, reasoning and interesting beings. And, by doing so, we will have happier, more fulfilled lives.

For more information on Learning Later, Living Greater visit www.learninglater.com

You can purchase Learning Later, Living Greater at www.amazon.com

Till Next Time…

Nancy Merz Nordstrom is Director of the Lifelong Learning Department at Computer School for Seniors (www.cs4seniors.com)

Lifelong Learning Thursday

Nancy Merz Nordstrom, author of Learning Later, Living Greater: The Secret of Making the Most of Your After 50 Years will share the benefits of Lifelong Learning on Thursdays.

LEARNING LATER, LIVING GREATER:
The Secret for Making the Most of Your After-50 Years.

Lifelong Learning in Your Later Years…
A Health Club for Your Mind, Body, and Spirit!

Nothing speaks more to the importance of something than validation from outside sources. And validation of lifelong learning programs has grown dramatically, especially in the last 20 years. Here are just a few of the many ways these programs are being supported, both in this country and abroad.

· In 1997, the Minnesota Humanities Commission organized the Minnesota Learning in Retirement Network (LIRN), a state-wide association of university and community-based senior learning organizations. The aim of the Humanities Commission’s Learning in Retirement Network is to promote older adult learning in the humanities. Through the humanities, LIRN members study enduring ideas, reflect on experience, analyze important issues, and contribute to the educational well-being of the communities. Member organizations are all receiving LIRN grants from the Humanities Commission.

· The Bernard Osher Foundation is a charitable foundation established in 1977 by Bernard Osher, a businessman and community leader. In early 2001, the Foundation provided a large multi-million dollar grant to the University of Southern Maine, which had a successful “Senior College” in operation. This endowment gift provided multiple opportunities for the University to enlarge and improve the excellent program it was already offering. With the gift, the Senior College at USM changed its name to the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, becoming the first in a network of more than 120 Osher institutes nationwide.

· Along with this funding, the State of Maine legislature puts money into the budget of the University of Southern Maine each year to "support a Senior College initiative" for older adults all across the state. There are now fifteen Senior Colleges (the Maine name for lifelong learning institutes) throughout the State.

· In the spring of 1992, the California State Legislature passed a resolution to support learning in retirement. Its purpose was to give status to groups wishing to establish lifelong learning programs on campus sites of state-supported institutions, and to provide impetus to the movement.

· As further proof of the validity of creative lifelong learning, in 1999, the largest documented study on aging in the USA, Successful Aging, concluded that involvement in social, recreational and creative activities is a key factor in successful aging.


· The European Parliament declared 1996 the “Year of Lifelong Learning,” and thirteen countries developed lifelong learning policy initiatives. The need for social capital, along with rapidly advancing technology has brought lifelong learning to the attention of just about everyone in Europe.

· The United Kingdom sponsors an annual Learning in Later Life Campaign and gives awards for events that celebrate older learning.

· Lifelong learning has become an important part of the new social goal of the EU, as defined at the Lisbon summit in March, 2000–“to make the European Union the world’s most dynamic and competitive area, based on innovation and knowledge, able to boost economic growth levels with more and better jobs and greater social cohesion.” To this end, AGE, the European Older People’s Platform, was recently established to voice the interests of older and retired people with the EU institutions. Lifelong learning is one of the topics AGE will be addressing.

· In China, the lifelong learning movement entered the country in the 1980s and today China has the largest number of Universities of the Third Age (U3As), more than 19,000, with almost 2 million members. Universities for the Aged (UAs) is another movement in China with almost 3 million citizens taking classes at special schools or universities throughout the country. Since the end of the Cultural Revolution, Chinese governments have regarded education as important for helping the more than 100 million older Chinese to adapt to social change. This emphasis on education has led to a very strong lifelong learning movement for older adults in China.

· The lifelong learning movement in Japan is still rather new, but thanks to recent legislation, large numbers of older Japanese adults now take classes in “elderly colleges.”

· Lifelong learning for older adults has spread around the world with programs in almost every country. Now that’s validation!

THURSDAY’S THOUGHT…
Charles W. Eliot, the famous Harvard University president from the last century has said, “It has been too much the custom to think of education as an affair of youth…but it really should be the work of the whole life.” The global validation we have just discussed proves his words were correct. Don’t you want to be part of it?

For more information on Learning Later, Living Greater visit www.learninglater.com

You can purchase Learning Later, Living Greater at www.amazon.com

Till Next Time…

Nancy Merz Nordstrom is Director of the Lifelong Learning Department at Computer School for Seniors (www.cs4seniors.com)

Lifelong Learning Thursday

Nancy Merz Nordstrom, author of Learning Later, Living Greater: The Secret of Making the Most of Your After 50 Years will share the benefits of Lifelong Learning on Thursdays.

LEARNING LATER, LIVING GREATER:

The Secret for Making the Most of Your After-50 Years.

Lifelong Learning in Your Later Years…

A Health Club for Your Mind, Body, and Spirit!

Over the past weeks we’ve taken a look at the new brain research showing how lifelong learning is key to keeping your brain cells thriving. We’ve also explored the Mind/Body connection and the role later-life learning plays in that delicate balance. Now, let’s discuss the special aspects of lifelong learning in the “After-50” years.

Everyone is, to some extent, a lifelong learner. There really is no such thing as a non-learner. The neighbor next door and the person down the street are lifelong learners. After all, lifelong learning is much more than the acquisition of knowledge. It really is the daily absorption of all that goes on around us.

Informal lifelong learning begins at birth and continues throughout a person's life. It broadly encompasses learning to live within society and how to navigate our way through the intricacies of life. Informal learning often arises as we pass through different stages in our lives such as starting a career or business, becoming a parent or dealing with a death in the family. Informal lifelong learning can be planned or unplanned, stemming from needs that arise out of our everyday life and experiences.

For the purposes of this blog, however, which is focused on more formal ways of lifelong learning for older adults, we can say the following. “After-50” lifelong learners are enthusiastic, ready, willing and able, and empowered when it comes to their own learning. They are inquisitive about anything new or puzzling; they ask questions, ponder, discuss with friends and family, and often go off and read and write about it.

They are also not afraid to make mistakes. Lifelong learners are willing to go outside their comfort zone, taking calculated risks in their quest for knowledge. They deliberately seek out new opportunities for learning in any setting. They view everything that happens - both the good and the bad - as chances for learning.

Lifelong learners take full responsibility for their learning, doing whatever is necessary to create an atmosphere that is conducive to learning. They are not content to sit back and wait for the learning to come to them. They go out and do what has to be done to make it happen. They are self-starters.

Lifelong learners understand that there is no one right way to learn and they want to expose themselves to every variance and nuance of learning. They often encourage others to join them. They are always spreading the word about their programs. They see later-life learning, not only as an altruistic act, but also as a way to engage in reciprocal learning by developing a learning community of like-minded individuals.

It’s been said that people who are lifelong learners are more tolerant, more stimulated in their lives and more upbeat. Along with that, having special interests really stretches a person. Their life takes on an added dimension and often brings a different perspective to a particular viewpoint. It’s been said that lifelong learning can save your life. Stories abound about how people have been able to get on with their lives after life-changing events because they are involved in later-life learning.

They understand that learning is a process, capable of improvement, and they are continually striving to raise the bar. They know that anything worthwhile takes time and effort. The end result however - one they fully understand - is that learning is a critically important undertaking. Doing so will lead to a life of fulfillment.

Lifelong learning can also help people strive to reach their goals and can open doors to new thoughts and social interactions. It can increase your sense of self-worth and fulfill the human desire to discover and understand. There is no doubt lifelong learning is a valuable tool in life-fulfillment.

Next week we’ll discuss the recognition and validation of later-life learning.

THURSDAY’S THOUGHT…

Karl von Bonstetten, a Swiss writer has said, “To resist the frigidity of old age one must combine the body, the mind and the heart – and to keep them in parallel vigor one must exercise, study and love.” Perfect words that show how building lifelong learning into our later years can pay big dividends for us.

For more information on Learning Later, Living Greater visit www.learninglater.com

You can purchase Learning Later, Living Greater at www.amazon.com

Till Next Time…

Nancy Merz Nordstrom is Director of the Lifelong Learning Department at Computer School for Seniors (www.cs4seniors.com)

Lifelong Learning Thursday

Nancy Merz Nordstrom, author of Learning Later, Living Greater: The Secret of Making the Most of Your After 50 Years will share the benefits of Lifelong Learning on Thursdays.

LEARNING LATER, LIVING GREATER:

The Secret for Making the Most of Your After-50 Years.

Lifelong Learning in Your Later Years…

A Health Club for Your Mind, Body, and Spirit!

Let’s finish our discussion of the last several weeks on the Mind/Body connection and Lifelong Learning.

Recent neuroscience and behavioral studies indicate that the mental, physical and emotional habits of older adults play a significant role in cognitive functioning and a sense of general well-being. The coming years will bring even more new and exciting discoveries in these fields as more and more researchers delve into the complexities of this incredible connection.

For now, there’s no doubt that lifelong learning makes it convenient and easy to use any of the Mind/Body tools to help maintain your body’s delicate balance. And in so doing, lifelong learning becomes perhaps, the most valuable tool of all.

In the words of John Dewey, the noted philosopher - “The very problem of mind and body suggests division. I do not know of anything so disastrously affected by the habit of division as this particular theme. In its discussion are reflected the splitting off from each other of religion, morals, and science; the divorce of philosophy from science and of both from the arts of conduct. The evils which we suffer in education, in religion, in the materialism of business and the aloofness of intellectuals from life, in the whole separation of knowledge and practice – all testify to the necessity of seeing mind-body as an integral whole.”

THURSDAY’S THOUGHT…
There isn’t a day that goes by that someone doesn’t tell me that Lifelong Learning has made their lives better. I hope you will see Lifelong Learning as a tool that can help you maintain life balance and that all-important Mind/Body Connection. It really can make a huge difference in your After-50 years.

For more information on Learning Later, Living Greater visit www.learninglater.com

You can purchase Learning Later, Living Greater at www.amazon.com

Till Next Time…

Nancy Merz Nordstrom is Director of the Lifelong Learning Department at Computer School for Seniors (www.cs4seniors.com)

Lifelong Learning Thursday

Nancy Merz Nordstrom, author of Learning Later, Living Greater: The Secret of Making the Most of Your After 50 Years will share the benefits of Lifelong Learning on Thursdays.

LEARNING LATER, LIVING GREATER:

The Secret for Making the Most of Your After-50 Years.

Lifelong Learning in Your Later Years…

A Health Club for Your Mind, Body, and Spirit!

Last week we touched briefly on a few ways to keep your Mind/Body balanced. Now it’s time to look at another very important tool, Lifelong Learning, and how it fits into the Mind/Body concept.

Actually, Lifelong learning fits beautifully with the Mind/Body way of thinking. As you learn more about this topic, the strength of the Mind/Body connection to lifelong learning will become very apparent. In the meantime, here’s a short synopsis of some of the ways they are connected.

Epidemiological studies that were mentioned previously have shown that people with few social ties are significantly more likely to become ill than those who have more social connections. In the study, men who reported more social relationships–movies, church, classes or trips with friends or relatives–were significantly less likely to die during the study period.

Lifelong learning programs promote that needed social interaction. In fact, people join lifelong learning programs as much for the social aspects as for the learning. The wealth of social activities offered at a lifelong learning program is amazing. We’ll talk more about this in future columns.

Lifelong learners enjoy another valuable Mind/Body tool: laughter. “He who laughs, lasts!” Did you know that most adults only laugh about 40 times a day while children laugh 400-500 times in that same time period. Walk down a hall past lifelong learning classes or gatherings, however, and you’ll hear laughter, and lots of it. Lifelong learners have a positive outlook on life; they are funny, gregarious and not afraid to laugh - with others and at themselves.

Being engaged in lifelong learning activities is also a wonderful de-stressor. Recent studies at the National Institute on Aging show individuals who keep their minds actively engaged in new learning report themselves as happier and more fulfilled than older adults who are less active. If you are happy you are not being overly stressed. It’s that simple.

We all have stress in our lives. The secret to handling it is to use tools to bring that stress level into balance. The sheer joy of learning something new and interesting–of interacting with others equally interested–of being able to share life’s ups and downs with like-minded folks, is today’s medicine for decreasing stress.

And then there is love. Not only have people who are involved in lifelong learning made new, lasting and deep friendships, some have even found romance. There have been many marriages between lifelong learners.

Lifelong learning programs also offer a vast array of courses, many that make it easy to incorporate the Mind/Body balancing tools into your daily life. For instance, classes on spirituality, meditation, yoga, exercise of all types, the creative arts, journaling and nature are all part of these programs. There are even courses on the Mind/Body connection itself.

Finally, it can be said that lifelong learners embrace three distinct Mind/Body attributes:
• They have pledged to make their Third Age the best it can be by experiencing lifelong learning.
• They are responsible for their own destinies and make the decisions and choices that will ensure their Third Age is the best it can be.
• They enjoy the demands of learning and the subsequent stimulation.

More on this topic next week.

THURSDAY’S THOUGHT…
“In the province of the mind, what one believes to be true either is true or becomes true” – John Lilly. Think about that for a minute. It’s a very powerful statement. It also speaks to our ability to directly affect the type of lives we have, especially as we grow older. Wow!

For more information on Learning Later, Living Greater visit www.learninglater.com

You can purchase Learning Later, Living Greater at www.amazon.com

Till Next Time…

Nancy Merz Nordstrom is Director of the Lifelong Learning Department at Computer School for Seniors (www.cs4seniors.com)

Lifelong Learning Thursday

Nancy Merz Nordstrom, author of Learning Later, Living Greater: The Secret of Making the Most of Your After 50 Years will share the benefits of Lifelong Learning on Thursdays.

LEARNING LATER, LIVING GREATER:
The Secret for Making the Most of Your After-50 Years.

Lifelong Learning in Your Later Years…
A Health Club for Your Mind, Body, and Spirit!

In our rush, rush world, keeping our lives balanced can be a real challenge. But it’s critical that we do our best to find and maintain that life balance. The big question is how? Here are some ideas.

Did you know that hearty laughter can enhance your immunity for up to 12 hours? Or, that getting a massage or listening to music decreases your levels of the stress hormone, Cortisol?

Research now shows that we can positively affect our life balance by using any of the following tools: Love–Friendship–Laughter–Spirituality–A Positive Outlook–Meditation–Yoga–Exercise–Massage–The Creative Arts–Journaling–Being in Nature–Having a Pet

What other helpful activities can you think of to add to this list?

In other words, what we do or don’t do to maintain balance, to manage both stress and our moods, can certainly have long-term effects on our body.

This is what Mind/Body medicine is really all about. It treats the whole person, examining not just our physical side but also the mental, emotional and spiritual sides too. In this way, there is balance between them all.

The usual “medicine” for restoring Mind/Body balance includes such things as relaxation training, meditation, hypnosis, biofeedback, psychotherapy, guided imagery and prayer. Each of these is a field unto themselves. The basic philosophies are the same, however: that the mind and body have the power to heal themselves.

But, there is one tool, not yet on this list, that is starting to be recognized as equally valuable in helping keep the Mind/Body balance. That tool is lifelong learning. More on this next week.

THURSDAY’S THOUGHT…
According to Mabel E. Todd, a major contributor to Ideokinesis, a field of bodywork and personal development that first came to prominence in the 1930's amongst dancers and health professionals “Through balance man conserves nervous energy and thus directly benefits all his activities, mental as well as physical.” A good life is really all about balance, no matter what we are doing. Keeping that in mind will go a long way toward creating a fulfilling later life. And…Lifelong Learning can help!

For more information on Learning Later, Living Greater visit www.learninglater.com

You can purchase Learning Later, Living Greater at www.amazon.com

Till Next Time…

Nancy Merz Nordstrom is Director of the Lifelong Learning Department at Computer School for Seniors (www.cs4seniors.com)

Lifelong Learning Thursday

Nancy Merz Nordstrom, author of Learning Later, Living Greater: The Secret of Making the Most of Your After 50 Years will share the benefits of Lifelong Learning on Thursdays.

LEARNING LATER, LIVING GREATER: 

The Secret for Making the Most of Your After-50 Years.

Lifelong Learning in Your Later Years… 

A Health Club for Your Mind, Body, and Spirit!

Let’s continue our discussion of the Mind/Body connection from last week.

The human brain and body work together. Neuro-pathways from your brain are communicating all the time with your cells and muscles. Messages travel back and forth at blistering speeds. This merging of the mind and body creates a holistic connection that is critical for health and wellness.

Sometimes this connection can be compromised. We feel out of balance. Maybe we get cranky or irritable. Depression might even set in. Whatever our reaction, the first step toward regaining our balance is to identify the culprit. And these days, the most common culprit is stress.

Stress is something we all live with in varying degrees, every day of our lives. Medical research has shown that stress can dramatically affect different systems in our bodies including the endocrine or hormonal system, and the immune and circulatory systems.

One way to explore the interaction of the Mind/Body connection is by measuring the effects of stress, something the medical community has the ability to do. Indicator levels for the hormone Cortisol, our blood pressure, heart rate, and even our ability to heal injuries are all used as benchmarks for how we handle stress. If any one of these indicators is abnormal, we may find ourselves dealing with serious emotional or physical problems.

Studies have actually shown that chronic caregivers have significantly decreased immune function. Research has also shown that widows and widowers can take up to a year to restore immunity after the death of a spouse. Victims of sexual abuse and those with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder show increased negative cardiovascular activity along with Cortisol function abnormalities.

All this indicates that some of life’s biggest sources of stress such as bereavement, chronic caregiving, loneliness, anger, trauma and marital difficulties can negatively affect the needed balance of the Mind/Body connections. It behooves us to do what we can to keep this delicate balance on an even keel.

So, just how do we maintain that balance and what’s the connection between lifelong learning and the Mind/Body concept? We’ll explore these questions next time.

THURSDAY’S THOUGHT…

Edward George Bulwer-Lytton, English novelist, poet, playwright, and politician said , “We live longer than our forefathers; but we suffer more from a thousand artificial anxieties and cares. They fatigued only the muscles, we exhaust the finer strength of the nerves.” So true! And all the more reason why we have to find and maintain balance in our lives. Our good health depends on it. Lifelong Learning can help.

For more information on Learning Later, Living Greater visit www.learninglater.com

You can purchase Learning Later, Living Greater at www.amazon.com

Till Next Time…

Nancy Merz Nordstrom is Director of the Lifelong Learning Department at Computer School for Seniors (www.cs4seniors.com)