Your Brain Can Beat Ageing Process
You have lost your keys for the umpteenth time. You return home from the grocery shop and realize you have forgotten the most important item. You open your mouth to talk but forget what you want to say. Sounds familiar?
Your brain is a thinking organ that learns and grows by interacting with the world through perception and action. Mental stimulation improves brain function and actually protects against cognitive decline as does physical exercise.
In other words-use it or lose it!
If you keep your brain active, you are more likely to maintain your mental abilities as you age. A long term study on ageing found that on an average people who are engaged in brain stimulating activities daily were 47 percent less likely to develop Alzheimer’s disease.
While we perform different types of mental work required for our job and other responsibilities, we neglect other types of mental work.
It is possible to integrate to integrate simple mental exercise as part of normal daily activities without using additional time or material. Once these become a part of your life, you will feel active and motivated enough to attempt more complex mental exercises and extend your abilities.
Begin with such mental exercises:
- Increase your numerical abilities.
Perform everyday calculations mentally. Add your grocery bill and convert the price of a kilogram into grams at your vegetable vendor
- Don’t depend on calculators.
Calculate mentally. If you lack confidence use paper and pencil. A calculator is used to check your calculations.
- Notice things to improve memory like the shopping list, contents of the fridge etc. Mentally describe persons, places and things to yourself. Even while watching TV, be observant and play small memory games of remembering details.
- Play board games, word games and solve puzzles. Use leisure time productively. Have debates and discussions on current affairs and social issues. Share news items and daily happenings. Speak out your views on them.
- Learn new things. Age is not a factor. Switch to new hobbies to remain mentally flexible. Change your routine and your habits. Maintain and extend your social interactions.
- Use word association. Play name games by associating a person’s name and quality starting from the same alphabet. Learn a new word each week. Recite the alphabet backwards. Learn to read music or a foreign language with another script.
- Use other senses. Most of us depend mostly on our sense of sight. Practice hearing and doing daily actions with the eyes closed. Smell and touch familiar objects. Close the eyes and try new tastes.
- Switch hands. Use your non dominant hand to carry out daily activities. Try to perform these activities just as well as you can do them with dominant hand.
To remain young mentally, you need to adopt an overall healthy approach to life and stimulate your mind in diverse areas. It is important to remember that the performance of the brain depends on the general health of the body. Proper nutrition and exercise enhance mental abilities. It is scientifically proved that physical activity leads to the brain growing more cells and improving.
It is very important to incorporate breathing techniques and relaxation into your daily schedule. Meditation and yoga have been found to be very beneficial for mental health. A mind that is at peace and at ease is active and sound.
A positive attitude towards life and a good social support system also help. One must hold on to the strength in a difficult time and act accordingly to a favorable outcome. The presence of loved ones around us is always welcome for us to lean on to during stressful times when there are too many things to handle.
The more you use your intellect, the more it will sharpen and the more you will want to use it.
Star with the simple exercises and you will want the more complex ones as your thinking improves.
One must live an interesting life with energy to remain young and alert well into the advanced years.
