By now you are no doubt understanding that your entire human experience is lived through your nervous system. You take in a beautiful sunset, sip a fine wine, hear children laughing, and then your brain processes it, and makes sense of it all. You laugh, you cry, feel pain, or feel joy.
This nervous system is vitally important to your existence on this planet.
The human brain is the most amazing structure known in the entire universe. Nothing else compares to its complexity and power. In fact, the connections in the brain are like telephone wire connections that allow communication to be transferred to other locations. If we were to compare the number of connections in all of the telecommunications systems in the entire world (including telephone wires, satellite communications systems, and wireless communications) to the number of connections in the neurological network of the brain, they would appear the size of a pea in relation to the size of the human brain.
Unfortunately, with our modern society and poor habits we are destroying this delicate structure. In fact research suggests that: * 1 in 4 people by the age of 60 will have a “bad brain”. These are disorders like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, etc.
The good news is that the “bad brain” syndrome doesn’t have to happen! The whole secret is combination. Follow these 14 Secrets and you will be well on your way to keeping a healthy brain.
1) Exercise – Hmmm…Seems like exercise comes up a lot when health is being talked about. Exercise actually increases blood flow by 20-30% to the brain. With increased blood flow comes increased nutrition and oxygen, the primary fuel of the brain. A good walk outdoors will do wonders. My all time favorite exercise is bodyweight calisthenics. 10 minutes per day of focused exercise will do wonders.
2) Work the left brain – For many of us after high school or college, we don’t stimulate our brains very much. Maybe a little bit of reading, but not much else. Sudoku, crossword puzzles, bridge, chess, etc. are great ways to exercise your brain. If you enjoy them, your brain will get a shot of dopamine, which is a natural feel good chemical.
3) Work the right brain – Anything you enjoyed as a kid such as painting, drawing, music,etc. This stimulates the creative part of your brain.
4) Stop the news! – The news irritates the brain. It’s designed to grab your attention so you keep watching it. A clinician studied individuals who stopped the negative news and found a 25% increase in feel good brain chemicals within 2 weeks. If you don’t stop the news altogether, at least don’t watch it right before you go to bed at night. Read a personal growth book or listen to some calming music, or better yet focus on your goals and what you want to achieve in your life. If you want to keep up with the world, read the headlines in a newspaper or online news site. Then, pick and choose what articles you want to read. This allows you to be in control of what you see and read.
So there are steps 1-4. Stay tuned for the other 10!