I’m smarter now than I was as a kid and young adult. And I’m more youthful now than before too. Are you?
There were times along the way I knew I was going to be in trouble as a senior, that age “everybody” seems to agree where your brain quits working so well. Have you ever spent time looking for something that you were holding in your hand, or wearing on your head, before someone helped you by finding it for you? Yeah, not fun. My first time at that was as a 16 year old. Oops!
There are some interesting steps you can take to improve your mental function, your brain fitness. The first trick I learned was the importance of doing exercises that have you crossing your vertical mid-line. That means, for example, as you move your left leg up and over to the right, you move your right arm across to the left — both limbs crossing your mid-line (the imaginary line that runs the length of your body from the top of your head to the bottom of your feet). Take the same actions with your right leg and left arm. Repeat this cycle several times (5- 20, as you see fit).
Another trick is to use your non-dominate hand daily — brush your teeth, write, eat, open doors,… — or let your non-dominate foot start your steps as you take a walk or climb stairs. This trick, as with the first trick I mentioned, builds or strengthens the connections between your right and left brain hemispheres.
You know that your right hemisphere is used for creativity and the left hemisphere is used for math efforts, right? Well, think how much smarter you would be if you used both hemispheres for both activities! That’s what these first two tricks aid — building and strengthening that connection so both hemispheres work together.
The next set of tricks involve stretching and challenging your brain — daily. Learn something new like a word or dance step, work a puzzle or find the animal shapes in the clouds, or tackle a new language or musical instrument.
This next trick is something I’ve done for entertainment value for years; I didn’t know it had brain-strengthening qualities. Avoid ruts. Take a different route to work or the grocery store, do your morning routine backwards (do your morning stretches, brush your teeth, then floss), turn left in the theater instead of right to get to your seat, don’t dress down on “Casual Friday” and instead dress up, if you always travel by train fly or take the bus instead; you get the idea. Do things differently so your brain has to pay attention.
Eating healthy food — whole, unprocessed foods (organic and locally grown, if possible) — is good for your brain fitness too. The brain burns more calories than any other organ in your body, so give it good fuel. You wouldn’t think of putting “junk food” into your car and expect it to be useful. Treat your brain with the same respect. Avoid junk food with all its sugars, chemicals, and empty calories.
Water is also good for your mental agility. Hydrate so that your blood can move through your circulatory system agilely enough to transport food and oxygen to where they do you the most good. You need water to help flush your system of the waste byproducts of living, otherwise all of your organs get junked up and get sluggish. We are about 65% water and it’s your job to keep that level. Hydration is the key.
The other trick I’m thinking of today for keeping your mind working in top-notch order is getting abundant oxygen. To do that you need to move hourly, you need to get outdoors, you need to exercise, and you need to sleep 7-8 hours each night. Most of us move a lot less than we think we do.
With my standing desk and habit of moving throughout the hour (I jog in place while watching YouTube videos or attending webinars) and taking hourly breaks I was surprised to learn I have to push myself to exceed 5,000 steps/day. And a healthy goal, one I’m working towards, is 10,000 steps/day. If you have the habit of walking 1-2 miles/day, as I do in the non-winter months, you have a leg-up on getting your 10,000 steps in each day. If you are moving your lungs have to pump harder to get more oxygen going through your system, and that fuels your mind in wonderful ways.
Ha! I snuck another trick in on you — movement. And to add more value to that trick, walk with a friend so you get social interaction in at the same time.
Keeping a youthful, agile mind is important in keeping your brain from aging and pulling silly tricks on you, tricks like forgetfulness and crankiness. By getting and staying smarter you make it easier to get even more smart — and more youthful. Brain fitness is up to you.