IMPROVE YOUR BRAIN IMPROVE YOUR LIFE.....!!!
Brains are just as important as bodies when it comes to taking care of our health. Recent advances in neuroscience and brain imaging techniques have opened a new window for us to actually watch a living, learning brain in action. We are unlocking the secrets of memory, attention, thinking and problem solving. There is little doubt that this new knowledge will be very influential in the way we teach, learn and improve the quality of our lives. The more we understand about what the brain needs to have in order to ‘live long and prosper’ the more we can form new, beneficial habits that will keep us in top form mentally and emotionally throughout our lives.
Here are the Top 10 Tips for improving your brain power and improving your life.
1. Do something new.
Every year set yourself a new learning resolution and find a course or workshop that really appeals to you and start to learn something new. Anything that you have thought of in the past as a passing interest – take it up now. Jewellery making, car mechanics, Spanish, yoga, weight training, scrapbooking.... It doesn’t matter what it is as long as it stimulates your curiousity and gives you pleasure.
A curious and happy brain is a well one!
2. Sleep well.
Brains are busy – all the time! Not surprisingly they get tired and they need enough good quality rest to enable them to work at their best. There is the old adage about needing 8 hours sleep a night – which is true for many people – but remember that you are unique and you may need something different. Next time you are on holiday take off your wtch, put away your laptop and mobile and just let your own body clock dictate what you do and when you sleep. You will soon find out what works best for you then you can adapt that into your everyday life. Don’t take short cuts with your rest – your brain really needs it.
3. Do “neurobic” exercises.
As part of the new knowledge we are gaining about the brain and how it works neurobiologist Lawrence Katz of Duke University has developed the idea of doing ‘neurobics’ as well as aerobics in our daily health routine. They are fun and can mean that you do things like showering in the dark, trying out wearing your watch on the opposite arm for a while, using your non dominant hand to brush your teeth.... Crazy – but good for you. Enjoy!
4. More Play in your life
Your children will love this idea. We are suggesting that you play video games with your children and use the time to gain new skills such as processing information really quickly and developing fine motor skills in your hands as you use the controls. (Children actually have more developed thumb muscles than their parents because they use them so much more on electronic toys and mobiles.) There is also going to be a big side benefit in this activity because it will help to improve your relationship with your youngster. That alone would make your brain happy.
see games to help improve memory for children.
5. Solve word puzzles
Remember when your elderly auntie or grandmother or grandfather kept reading out clues from their daily crossword and inviting you to join in with their little hobby? They were onto something! Using your brain means that you keep it mentally agile and growing. It really is true with the brain – “if you don’t use it – you lose it”. Keep doing puzzles, crosswords, Sudoku.... they are all wonderful ways to keep you alert for many many years to come.
6. Listen to books on tape
Reading is a great way to travel to new worlds and learn things. Doesn’t matter if it is fiction or non fiction, books stimulate us and keep our brain active. Listening to stories as you travel is a lovely way to pass the time and do yourself some good at the same time. You will relax yet be stimulated and learn something new whilst you use your sense of hearing and your imagination. Your brain will open up new pathways to process the information and that gives your brain a mini workout right there and then.
7. Read poetry or Shakespeare
Along with the idea of reading being so good for your brain, the kind of material you read can boost your brain power just that little bit more. Poetry and the technically interesting language used by writers such as William Shakespeare helps to stimulate your brain even more than reading ordinary text such as a novel. Poetry speaks to us on many levels and uses clever ways to reach into our emotions and provoke a response in the reader. Our brains are busier as we read poetry and this helps to link different parts of the brain together which more normally would not ‘talk’ to one another much. All of this powers up the brain, like an athlete toning up their whole body before an event.
8. Take a new route home from work
Stop! Don’t go the same old way. Try another route to work this time – and then take another one back home again. Shake up those daily routines where your brain just goes into neutral and keep it on its mental toes by taking it for a new journey with new things to see and experience. It will soon thank you by being more creative and much better at solving problems than you have ever known.
9. Limit your alcohol intake.
The more alcohol you consume, the lower your brain volume becomes. Oh dear! As with so much in life the answer is ‘everything in moderation’. If you drink more than 14 alcoholic drinks/week you may be causing your brain to shrink.
10. Smell the roses.
Using your senses more consciously is something the brain just loves. Parts of the brain that have been idling along in neutral suddenly get a burst of life and enjoyment floods through the pleasure centres in the brain as you smell the delicate scent of the rose in the garden, or the newly mown hay as you pass by a field. Our sense of smell is an ‘old’, primitive sense and it is wonderful at resurrecting memories we had long forgotten with our conscious minds. Take time to enjoy the natural world, it is good for your heart and your head.