Everyone’s so worried about keeping their bodies in shape, but what about your brain? Your mind and body are connected in more ways than you think, and it all starts from the connections in your head. Now is the time to start working it. Here’s some exercises and hacks to keep your brain in shape!
Switch Dominant Hands
Don’t worry about how uncomfortable or awkward this may feel. Using your non-dominant hand in an array of activities will actually strengthen existing neural connections and create new ones. It could be as simple as switching the hand you use to control the mouse for your computer, operating a TV remote, using your phone, or brushing your teeth. All of these neural strengthening exercises will be sure to do the trick!
Change Your Routine
Another easy hack to keep your brain in shape is to change up your routine. Establishing new routines will help improve your attention and strengthen your concentration. Think about tasks that force your brain to wake up and pay attention to its surroundings again. Some great ideas are reorganizing your desk, taking a new route to work, rearranging furniture, and reading a new book or magazine. As long as you’re not solely keeping up with the status quo, you’ll be good.
Always Stay Engaged
Often times, people forget that the brain is a muscle just like the rest of your body. Thus, it’s important to engage in activities that “flex” it. These activities can include reading, putting together puzzles, playing games, starting a new hobby, or learning another language. Research shows that these “brain games” were found to reduce memory loss and improve hand-eye coordination, which are crucial in everyday tasks. With this said, it is important to learn new things and connect those things to what you already know. By looking for connections, you’ll learn to think creatively and more abstractly, while improving overall neural health.
Learn New Lyrics or Sing
May sound ridiculous, but it’s an effective exercise for the brain. When you’re stuck on a problem, many professionals suggest singing or rhyming to help resolve the problems you’re working on. This is because it taps into and exercises the right side of the brain, which is home to the pattern recognition power. Correspondingly, trying to memorize lyrics, especially to a song you don’t know, will boost the level of acetylcholine in your brain. This is a chemical that helps build your brain, improve memory, and become an effective problem-solver.
Expand Your Dictionary
This goes for both your own language and any new ones you decide to learn along the way. All language activities will improve your ability to recognize, remember, and understand new words. Even if it’s reading new books, magazines, or a different section of the newspaper, it will start to expose you to new words. Taking the time to understand those words in context will also help build your language skills - along with your grammar and spelling!
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-Gina
