Our brain is without a doubt the most important part of our body and it is the part of our body which controls everything we do and everyone we are. The brain is a wonderful centre of memories, knowledge and experiences which we use every single day to better ourselves and live life to the fullest. Just as you would take the time to train your body for physical health, it is important to train the brain for mental health, and here are just some of the reasons why you should do brain training this year.
Brain training benefits
It improves your memory
When it comes to our memory, the most annoying thing in the world is walking into a room and forgetting what we were there for. Memory is a huge part of our personal and working lives and it can be the difference between finding happiness and success and not doing. If you want to improve working memory to succeed in business and propel your career to the next level, some brain training exercises are worth trying out.
You can improve your career prospects
To many, a career is more than just a means of putting food on the table, it is a lifestyle and one which many of us strive for success in throughout our lives. Everyone wants to be a success in life and provide for their family, and it takes a lot of hard work and dedication to do this. If you want to be better at your job and work your way up the career ladder, your brain could be the key to this. Training your brain will allow for better information retention and therefore the ability to learn and develop better in your job.
Your mood will be better
Ever feel down on a Sunday night or a Monday morning? Having the blues and feeling in a rut in life is hard, and when you feel strained all of the time and pulled in different directions it can be difficult to imagine a better way to live. Training your brain might not solve all of your problems, however working on the brain will help your mental health and this in turn can improve your mood. It will make you feel happy once again and there really isn’t anything more valuable than that.
Spacious awareness will increase
If you work in a mentally and physically demanding job, you might want to have some assistance when it comes to improving your spacious awareness and hand eye coordination. If you were always the sort of person who struggles catching a ball, some brain training games and techniques can really be what you need to help you improve your reactions.
You can avoid Alzheimer’s
Brain diseases and illnesses can be the worst of all of them, because once the brain starts to struggle you can lose your motor function and you can begin to lose who you are as a person. In order to keep your brain healthy and happy as well as allow you to live a headstrong life, brain training can be a great help.
Brain training exercises
Dr. Lawrence Katz is an internationally recognized neurobiologist who pioneered neuron regeneration research. He wrote “Keep Your Brain Alive: 83 Neurobic Exercises to Help Prevent Memory Loss and Increase Mental Fitness” in 1998, when few people were about brain exercise. ) languages. (The link is an updated version of the book published in 2018).
In his book, he coined the term “neurobics” to describe brain teasers that increase brain performance in a new and novel way through the use of all five senses. He explains that mental decline is usually not due to the loss of brain cells, but rather to the loss of communication between brain cells.
This happens due to the decreasing number and complexity of dendrites, the branches on nerve cells. ( 7 ) He found that if we do the right kind of brain teaser, we can make new dendritic connections.
Katz points out that most brain exercises are based primarily on vision. He believes that the key to complete brain training is to activate all of the senses – sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell – in a non-routine manner. He claims that any activity can become a good brain teaser provided it is new, fun, and challenging. In his book, he lists 83 exercises. Some of these are a little crazy, like choosing the clothes you will wear during the day with your eyes closed. But these ones below are our favourites.
1. SWITCH HANDS
If you’re right-handed, try using your left hand for things like brushing your teeth, eating, and using the computer mouse. Using your non-dominant hand leads to increased brain activity. This can be very exhausting at first, which makes it an effective brain workout.
2. EATING WITH CHOPSTICKS
This forces you to eat consciously , which is good for your brain, your digestion and your calorie consumption. (If you’re already good at it, try using chopsticks with your non-dominant hand instead).
3. DO HOUSEWORK WITH YOUR EYES CLOSED
When showering, washing your hair, or sorting laundry, try with your eyes closed. This is your brain forced to use new neural pathways . Of course, you should not do anything with your eyes closed that could endanger yourself or others.
4. DO THINGS UPSIDE DOWN OR BACKWARDS
Don’t worry, you don’t have to stand on your head to do this. Stimulate your brain by looking at things upside down. An easy exercise to start with is to wear the watch upside down . This forces your brain to really think every time you look at your watch. You can also hang clocks or calendars upside down . Once you get used to it, you can get used to turning your phone, or whatever else you can think of, upside down. Or you can channel your inner Leonardo da Vinci and try to master the art of writing backwards , called mirror writing.
5. READ BOOKS ALOUD
Take turns reading and listening to a book with your significant other, friend or child. If that’s not possible, alternate reading with listening to audiobooks. This stimulates the imagination in a different way. One of the earliest demonstrations of brain imaging clearly showed that three different regions of the brain light up when the same word is read, spoken, or heard.
6. GO NEW WAYS
During a routine commute, your brain is on autopilot and receives very little stimulation. However, if you take an unfamiliar path, the cortex and hippocampus are activated. It has been said that Bill Gates every day on the run home from work a different route is to stimulate his brain , and look where it has brought! You can also cover new routes on foot, by bike or by public transport.
7. USE ALL YOUR SENSES AT THE SAME TIME
Try activities that appeal to all of your senses at the same time. Traveling, camping and gardening are at the top of Dr. Katz’s list of activities that will use all of your senses in new ways.
One of his favorite examples is shopping at a farmers market, where you can look, touch, smell and taste the products. Socializing and talking to the farmer who grew your food provide additional brain stimulation.
Conclusion
Keeping the brain active and healthy throughout life can prevent your risk of diseases like Alzheimer’s so there really is no better reason to train your brain this year.