The brain needs to stay in shape in order for you to stay mentally healthy. The physical fitness routines you do are not just for your body, they also impact your mind. Mental fitness is just as important as physical fitness. Including mental dexterity exercises into your day can help you reap benefits for a long time to come. Here’s how to boost your brainpower a little each day.
Mind-body Connection
It is not so surprising to consider that the more you help your body, the more you help your mind. Physical activity increases the flow of oxygen to the brain. It also increases the amount of endorphins, or ‘feel-good’ chemicals. Engaging in physical workouts can help you battle depression and gain a more positive outlook on life. Certain memory training exercises can increase ‘fluid intelligence,’ or the ability to reason and solve new problems. While exercise is good for the brain and body, so is meditation. Meditation is an alternative way to treat depression that calms the mind.
Benefits of Mental Fitness
Before going to bed after a long day, the body starts to relax. The mind does not always follow this pattern as it keeps moving. Visualization techniques can help. This includes reducing tension in the body and mind by trying to calm everything down. Visualization can boost emotional well-being and bring more calm feelings into the center of your being.
Looking for a safe, structured place to live while you rebuild? Steps in the Right Direction offers gender-specific sober living in the San Fernando Valley: Aura House for women in Northridge and Arminta House for men in Winnetka. Both homes are pet friendly. Call (818) 231-1400 or apply online.
Mental Fitness
Keeping the mind mentally fit is not as difficult as getting ready for a marathon. It is a good analogy. You can add mental exercises to many activities being done already, including:
- Reading
- Daydreaming
- Finding humor in life
Quit Multitasking
You may think you’re so adept at getting things done, one after another, but doing more than one thing at a time actually decreases productivity and increases anxiety. Focusing on more than one task decreases concentration and the brain has a hard time focusing. Try doing one thing for a short amount of time before switching to something else.
Build Positive Energy
Positive affirmation is one way to increase mental proficiency. Affirmation involves strengthening neural pathways to bring confidence, well-being, and satisfaction to a new level. To start, make a list of good qualities. Remind yourself you don’t have to be perfect. Set goals for what you want and start small to avoid being overwhelmed.
You may also want to explore new things like foods, changing routines, or traveling to new places. This all helps keep the brain active and decreases the likelihood of getting Alzheimer’s. You may also try:
- Board games
- Card games
- Logic
- Reasoning
- Trivia
- Reading more
- Crosswords
- Having conversations with people
- Taking time to relax doing gardening or other meditative activities
Steps in the Right Direction offers structured, gender-specific sober living in the San Fernando Valley, with pet-friendly homes for women in Northridge and men in Winnetka. For more information, call (818) 231-1400.
About the author: Linda Butler
Founder, Steps in the Right Direction
Linda Butler founded Steps in the Right Direction in the spring of 2000 and has spent more than 25 years helping women and men find lasting recovery through structured, pet-friendly sober living in the San Fernando Valley. Learn more about Linda.