Our brain is our command center, the motherboard and the processor of our entire system. If our brain is suffering, we will too, both psychologically and physically. On the other hand, we also envy those who seem to be “smarter”, not knowing that we could too exercise the basic elements of cognitive functionality, such as attention, memory, problem solving skills, multitasking and so on. We may not reach the point when we could perform brain surgery or study rocket science, but we could definitely improve our abilities, thus contributing to our general state of well being. So let’s see ten of these tricks to make our brain work better.
1. Breathe deep
We all breathe, granted, but a ten minutes session of deep breathing, preferably not in a polluted environment or an unclean room, will help our brain fill with oxygen. This, in turn, improves brain activity, blood flow, reduces the risk of headaches and diminishes a general state of tiredness.
2. Read
Reading is an essential part of our education and expanding our cultural horizons, but it also improves our language skills, stimulating cortical areas and our language centers. It is better if we could learn a new language, as this is how our brain activity on language and speech development skills reaches its full potential, but reading is very healthy as well.
3. Try to laugh
We see people everyday walking concerned, with a preoccupied grimace on their faces. That definitely isn’t good for the general health. Laughing, genuine, honest and spontaneous, is one of the best, simple methods to raise your endorphin levels. The mind will take over the body and it will improve mood and quality of life. Try to find something funny to see, do or learn about and laugh. There’s no cheaper way to be get fine.
4. Exercise your brain
It doesn’t matter if it’s crossword puzzles, chess, logic quizzes, math problems or history trivia. Putting your mind to work will develop stronger informational networks, improve your set of skills in specific areas and will prevent your mind from getting lazy.
5. Listen to music
Your favorite one, a new genre, something you are used to or something completely new, it doesn’t matter. Listening to music activates your right side of the brain, responsible, among others, with emotional intelligence. More to that, music has the power of inducing a good mood, so don’t spend a day without it.
6. Play games
We are never too old to play games, especially together with friends and family or strangers who share our passions. Boardgames improve problem solving skills, concentration and memory. Social games help to increase not only social skills, but also empathy, creativity, spontaneity and imagination. Even computer games, used in reasonable amounts have a good impact on building strategies, multitasking and concentration.
7. Go to the gym
Or practice some physical exercise in your home or outside the house. The health benefits are numberless, but as your brain goes, engaging in sustained, structured physical exercise increases all your “good” brain chemicals, making you feel better and happier.
8. Get natural vitamins
Our brain feeds on whatever we provide. Besides the fact that we should be more open to a more natural, healthy eating habits, this agitated life also requires to compensate stress and exhaustion with supplements. And while multi vitamins and essential complexes come in different pills and products, let’s not forget that what’s natural is best. So try to include in your diet nuts, peanuts and seeds, everything that contains natural B’s, the essential vitamins to keep our brain healthy and functional.
9. Get informed, brainstorm and debate
There is no way better to put in motion all your brain functions and all your cognitive components other than working with ideas, debating them, trying to transform them into a practical projects, question everything and find people who, like you, don’t just sit around and get fed with information, but are willing to debate on them. Write on blogs, comment on forums, participate to a reading club, volunteer for a non-profit project, organize a party, even.
10. Have sex
This is not a plea for casual sex, nor for engaging in some obscure sexual practices. We are talking about a natural act, between two people who are attracted by each other and who may benefit from this on a health level. For instance, sex reduces headaches, increases endorphin and adrenaline levels, releases stress and puts hormones to work. Actually improves the general state of well being and lets your brain function normally.
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