Whether you spent decades making family dinners every night or you have generally relied on take-out, taking the time to hone your cooking skills is one of the easiest and most effective hobbies that you can take up to boost your health. Cookbooks and online classes aimed at teaching healthy and money-saving cooking tips are all over the Internet. If you learn better from an actual instructor, or would prefer to mix your cooking instruction with socializing, Charlotte offers many cooking classes in a range of healthy cuisines. In particular, Whole Foods’ Salud! Cooking School provides classes in a variety of cuisines and basic cooking techniques.

Numerous studies have shown that dancing can provide a wide range of health benefits, from improved heart health to stronger bones to lower weight. Dancing is more than just great exercise, though. Whether you’re a novice or you’ve been cutting a rug for years, dancing is fun and exciting, and joining a dance class or club can offer you the opportunity to interact with your peers. Options abound throughout Charlotte for low-cost and easily-accessible senior dance classes. At Open Door Studios, beginners and experienced dancers alike can take classes in ballet, jazz, and hip hop, while the Mecklenburg County Parks and Recreation department hosts line dancing classes for seniors at the West Charlotte Recreation Center.

Volunteering in your community is a great way to stay active in retirement and physically engaged with the world around you. Moreover, the benefits for your social, mental, and emotional health, provided by the sense of fulfillment and purpose produced through volunteer work, cannot be underestimated. Whether you want to become involved with an ongoing volunteer organization or you’d prefer to try out single-day volunteering opportunities, Charlotte has a wide range of options for volunteers of all ages. Hands on Charlotte maintains a helpful calendar outlining upcoming volunteering opportunities of all kinds.