Ways to Keep Your Brain in Shape
A lot of us are concerned with the size of our biceps or the girth of our waist. Having a fit body is important. However, keeping your mind in shape is critical to enjoying your life at the highest level.
Give your brain the attention it deserves!
Keep your mind healthy, active, and in shape with these strategies:
Exercise regularly.
Physical exercise has a protective effect on the brain and its mental processes. Roughly 30% of your brain’s volume is composed of blood vessels. It’s important to keep your blood moving! Oxygen supports the brain to operate better. So do something physical for 20-30 minutes every day.
Exercise will get your blood flowing and help to control your blood sugar, among many other things. High blood sugar is harmful to blood vessels. That’s why so many diabetics die of heart disease or stroke at a relatively young age.
Engaging in physical exercise helps to minimize stress in your body and mind. Stress can cause negative effects on your brain and make it more difficult to function properly. Mental stress has negative effects on your overall body, attacking the weakest points. Stress kills!
Read and listen to music every day.
The idea is to engage your brain/thinking to focus on enjoyable and creative activities.
Reading is also a brain exercise. You brain has to transform symbols into words and what they mean. Spend some time each day with a book that makes you think. You will learn something useful, too. Try to avoid reading the same types of books on a regular basis.
Read well-written articles. Read the classics. Try a new science fiction novel. How about a book on theoretical physics? Reading the sports page every day doesn’t count. The same goes for romance novels by your favorite author. Mix it up.
When you listen to or learn music that you like, it can help to improve your brain’s cognitive functions. Better memory.
Eat quality foods.
A healthy diet will help preserve your brain function. Do a little research on the best diet for longevity and make changes to your eating habits. A few, small changes each month will go a long way toward keeping your brain healthy.
The more processed the food, the less vitality – energy it has. Also consider that animals given hormones, anti-biotics and the like are processed with these chemicals in them when you eat them. Same goes for conventional vegetables which are heavily sprayed, so consider organic foods, as fresh as possible.
Try adding more DHA and EPA, or Omega 3 fatty acids. They are high in unsaturated fat which are a great sources to help maintain healthy brain functions.
Meditate and or Relax
Meditation is powerful for several reasons. You’ll learn to focus better. You’ll learn how to relax. This is wonderful for your brain.
Meditation does not need to be hard ‘work’. Find a good teacher in your area and meditate in a group. You’ll make some new friends, too. If doing meditation on your own, keep it to a max of 10 minutes in the beginning, then as you feel more comfortable increase the time.
Learn something new.
Learning to paint, speak a new language, or dance are a few great examples. Learning something new forces your brain to create new neural pathways. Your brain’s ability to change is referred to as its “elasticity.”
This can be very challenging at first. If you’ve been doing the same things repeatedly for many years, learning something new is similar to going jogging for the first time. It’s painful, and you don’t get too far. Be patient and give your brain a chance to wake up.
Music For Brain Power Video
Video Info
Music for Brain Power, Study Music, Concentration, Relaxation
Great for Baby’s Brain, Mozart Effect, Stress Reduction, Enjoyment.What is the “Mozart effect”? A set of research results indicate that listening to Mozart’s music may induce a short-term improvement on the performance of certain kinds of mental tasks known as “spatial-temporal reasoning”.
The “Mozart effect” is the popular idea that “listening to Mozart makes you smarter”, or that early childhood exposure to classical music has a beneficial effect on mental development.
However, listening to music doesn’t make us more intelligent, even though it can help temporary to improve our ability to manipulate shapes mentally.
Moreover, other kinds of music you like or anything that makes you alert (e.g. a few star jumps or drinking coffee) should work just as well.
So enjoy your music and enjoy your life !Mozart – Piano Concerto N. 21
Mozart – Symphony N. 40 Movt 1 ( 05:32 )
Mozart – Eine Kleine Nacht Movt 2 ( 13:03 )
Mozart – Marriage of Figaro “Overture” ( 18:05 )
Mozart – Violin Sonata K378 Rondeaux ( 22:32 )
Mozart – Horn Concerto Number 3 K447 Movt 2 ( 26:35 )
Mozart – Clarinet Concerto Movt 2 ( 30:54 )
Mozart – Magic Flute Opera “Overture” ( 37:51 )
Mozart – Piano Concerto Number 23 Movt 1 ( 44:59 )
Chopin – Preludio 4 Op. 28 ( 55:45 )
Chopin – Preludio N. 15 “Rain Drop” ( 57:48 )
Chopin – Preludio Op. 28 N. 7 ( 01:03:19 )
Chopin – Studio Op. 25 ( 01:04:09 )
Chopin – Notturno Op. 9 N. 1 ( 01:06:33 )
Chopin – Notturno Op. 15 N. 2 ( 01:11:47 )
Costantini – Sonetto in re b ( 01:15:06 )
Costantini – Berceuse ( 01:18:50 )
Costantini – Lindos ( 01:22:44 )
Enchanted Piano – Heaven ( 01:28:22 )
Problem Solving.
It might be solving cryptograms or writing a computer program. Do something challenging! Study chess. Push your brain to the maximum , then re-group and push forward again.
Remember the past.
As we grow older, it’s more challenging to remember facts from the past. When you can’t remember something, avoid giving up. Take all the time you need to remember. You might finally remember the name of your high-school English teacher while you’re mowing the grass. Just keep at it. Even consider writing things down as you remember them. Sort of like a puzzle where you keep adding pieces.
Socialize.
Spending too much time alone has been shown to increase the likelihood of developing dementia. Try to have an active social life and spend more time with others. You’ll end up enjoying your life more, too.
Why? Because pleasant interactions with others can help yo reduce stress and will encourage the brain cells with positive energy. So if you live alone, try to do more activities with your friends, or join a local group that engages in activities you like to do.
There are many benefits to keeping your mind in tip-top condition. You’ll enjoy better mental health and preserve your mental faculties longer.
Keeping your mind healthy requires attention. Challenge yourself to learn new information and skills.
Your brain has the ability to become very expansive. Give it every opportunity to use that ability. You will feel better.