According to scientific research, keeping your brain active by doing brain exercises can cause your brain to maintain a greater number of neurons, commonly called a neuron reserve. These neurons can help you to maintain brainpower as you get older, and in some cases, can hold back the signs of Alzheimer’s disease.
Many people do not realize the importance of exercising their brain, yet almost everyone realizes the importance of bodily exercise such as aerobics. It is just as important to keep your brain flexible and strong as it is to keep your body exercised and well toned. If you do not exercise your body, eventually you will get all flabby and out of shape. The same goes for your brain. No one wants a flabby brain, as once it gets out of shape it can be difficult to get it back into prime form again.
How can you exercise your brain? Crossword and word find puzzles do an excellent job of keeping your brain alert and active. Anagrams are useful as well. Some studies claim video games are also good brain exercises. Any task that requires some sort of mental effort makes an excellent exercise. The key to success is to do some form of brain exercise on a regular basis, just as you schedule physical exercise.
Problem Solving
Working crossword puzzles, solving anagrams, or playing video games are a type of problem solving exercise. The difference is that with these problems, the solution is readily available somewhere. With puzzles and anagrams, the solution is typically in the back of the book or in the next day’s edition of the newspaper. Video games have tip lines to call and strategy guides available that will talk or walk you through any trouble you may be having with the game.
There is no tip line or strategy guide for the problems of life. We must solve this type of problem ourselves, using our brain power. Normally, there is no one correct solution to a problem, but some of the ones we can come up with are certainly better suited for the problem than others. This is where the technique of brainstorming can come in quite handy for all but the most personal of problems. A group of people can come up with many solutions that are quite creative. No one is timid about offering up possible solutions that seems to be rather unusual, for one of these may be just what is needed in order to take care of the problem.
What is most interesting about brainstorming is that someone who is not deeply involved with a problem can often come up with a perfect solution. This is a perfect example of being on the outside, looking in.
Mind Games and Memory Exercises
An aging brain can definitely benefit from the stimulation involved in playing mind games. These should be started no later than the age of 40, preferably much sooner. Even children can benefit from including mind games into their daily schedule. Studies have shown that the fitness of the brain can be improved by spending just a half hour a day with these pleasant little games.
Word games, brain teasers, logic puzzles, and math puzzles can give your brain a real memory workout. Memory exercises can improve both the memory and the attention span, and they don’t have to cost you a thing, as many of these games are online. With just a little searching, you can set up a veritable brain gym for yourself and the members of your family, right on your home computer.
The game of chess has always had a reputation for being tailor made for super-intelligent people. Chess is an excellent game to improve the mind, but there are other games that would do much the same thing. A lot depends on the individual who is playing the game. If a certain game is a challenge for you, and you can tell it makes you think a bit harder than you normally do, then that game will be just right for you to use in order to exercise your mind and memory.
Lifestyle Choices for Keeping Your Mind Sharp
Games like the ones that are mentioned above can have inestimable intellectual value for you, but they are definitely not the be all and end all for a fit and healthy brain. If you want optimal brain function (and I am sure you do, or you would not be reading this book!) then you may need to make some lifestyle changes.
Proper Diet
We touched on proper diet earlier in this book, but nutrition is such an important part of keeping the brain in good shape that the subject deserves a bit more page space. You are what you eat is a saying that could not be more true when it comes to the brain.
Our brains have high nutrient requirements, as they use more energy to function properly than most people realize. It takes anywhere from 20 to 30 percent of your daily energy intake for your brain to function while it is at rest! If your brain is not receiving the proper nutrients, the entire chemistry of the organ can change. The nerve cells can also cease to function correctly without the proper diet.
Remember all those studies that were done to prove that children who did not eat breakfast were at a disadvantage when it came to learning in the classroom? They found that skipping breakfast lowered a person’s problem solving ability. It’s no wonder that some children are diagnosed as having learning disabilities early on.
Nutrition is important in regulating the neurotransmitters in the brain. Neurotransmitters are chemicals whose job is to convey nerve impulses from one nerve cell to another. Lest you think that neurotransmitters are not important, you should know that they are responsible for the kind of mood you are in, the type of sleep pattern you have, and also the way you think.
It takes a fine balancing act of nutrients for these chemicals to do their job correctly. Too much or too little of certain vitamins and/or minerals have been known to cause memory changes, interfere with how the brain functions, and can damage nerves in your brain.
Socialization and Exercise
The brain craves social interaction with other people. Your brain also requires brisk blood flow, as well as the amount of oxygen that accompanies this blood flow. A perfect way to get in both of these requirements to join an exercise class. Cardiovascular exercise, done in the company of others, is something most people thoroughly enjoy. Scientists have learned through extensive research that those who get sufficient exercise and have an active social life are quite long-lived as well as mentally healthy.
Exercise forces you to use your brain power! Your brain has to send signals to your upper and lower body in order for you to move your limbs and exercise. Your eyes depend on the signals from your brain in order to see.
Any time you have an exercise partner, you tend to think getting exercise is a lot more fun than if you were working out alone. Even if you have decided to walk for your daily exercise, it is a lot more motivating to have a friend to walk with.
A study involving Alzheimer’s patients who lived in a nursing home found that those who got a moderate amount of exercise had much slower deterioration than those patients who did not exercise. Another study found that social interaction among seniors was a critical factor in the maintenance of mental health. Memory and brain power also benefit from inclusion in a social group.
Although older adults seem to benefit more from socialization and exercise, even children get a mental boost from exercise, and it shows up in better grades for them. The extra oxygen that comes from getting enough exercise is thought to be the key ingredient in this change, as the brain loves oxygen! Exercise also causes the brain to produce more brain cells, so people of all ages can benefit from physical fitness.
Mindfulness Exercises
Mindfulness is also called awareness or insight meditation. When you meditate on a regular basis, the blood vessels get larger, and the cerebral cortex of the brain gets thicker and larger because of an increase in blood flow to that area. Western meditation, which is the most basic of all the meditation types, also increases the attention span, and allows you to focus more clearly.
You are more aware, more mindful of what you are meditating on, which is why this form is so aptly named. The mind is at rest as well as alert while you are meditating. In the Sanskrit language, the word meditation means ‘peacefully abiding’, and this is the way our mind is supposed to be. Calm, clear and happy is a natural state of being for the human brain, yet how often is the average person able to achieve this?
Mindfulness therefore means that we are completely in tune with our mind. You can train yourself to enter this state. With the ability to get away from the chaos of daily living, mindfulness meditation helps us to see just how our mind works. You will want to practice mindfulness exercises on a daily basis, and it is a good idea to choose a certain time of day, and then stick to it. Some people find mornings a perfect time, while others prefer to meditate in the evenings as a way to throw off the cares of their day.
IQ and intelligence increasing is one of those topics where most people think they don’t have a choice. People say intelligence is genetic, that you can’t increase it, that it’s all to do with education etc etc. But i say this to you now:
Society is full of lies.
And these lies which people say have limited the true potential and GENIUS that lies within us.
Just think for a moment, the geek in high school with the straight A’s and the medicine degree, what did he do to deserve his intelligence?
And think similarly too about the poor guy who worked and worked hard, only to end up with CCD grades and a life where “intelligence” and “analysis” isn’t his strength…..what did he do to deserve that?
You see, your intelligence will and can increase if you first BELIEVE that you can. Then you need to INTEND that you will ACT to increase your intelligence. And then it will increase.
I want to teach you a quick method to increase your IQ. Act and use this method because it works!
I want to start explaining this technique by asking you a question that in turn reveals a great SECRET about increasing your intelligence.
The question is:
What do you think is the typical human concentration span?
10 minutes?
20 minutes?
40 minutes?
2 hours?
The answer will gobsmack you. The answer actually is
………..
………..
………..
7 seconds!!!
7 seconds??!?!? i hear you say! Yep, you read that right!
Our average CONCENTRATION span is actually only about 7 seconds. (range is between 4-11 since it depends on your intelligence level) Free Mind Movies -Just Visualize IT!
Scary huh? It might seem hard to believe but prove it to yourself right now so you know I’m telling the truth:
1. Look at a fine and distinct quality of an object (eg the colour, the edge, the shape)
2. place your CONCENTRATION on the object
3. NOTICE how your CONCENTRATION on that quality wavers to another quality of the object, within seconds.
You see, you might be able to focus your attention on a task for 40 minutes+, but you cannot focus your concentration on a particular quality for more than a few seconds!!!
Your concentration ability is the most fundamental “tool” which you have for all intellectual endeavours
And here lies a secret to increasing your intelligence.
Since your concentration span is so tiny, if you can find a technique to INCREASE your concentration span, BY EVEN A SECOND, it will lead to a HUGE increase in concentration ability overall.
And this technique is what im about to reveal to you.
TECHNIQUE: PSEUDO TELEKINESIS (AVERAGE IQ GAIN= 5-15 POINTS)
1. Obtain a coin and place it in front of you
2. Make sure you are in a comfortable sitting place and in a location in which you will not be disturbed
3. Look at the coin from a distance of 30 to 40cm away and concentrate your full attention on the look of the coin. Try and concentrate on its shape more than its particular features. Do not touch the coin
4. Place your thoughts on the side-edge of the coin and try and force all your thoughts to be concentrated on that edge. By thoughts, i am NOT talking about images or words in your mind, just simply the force of your concentration on the coin.
5. You should imagine that the thoughts which you are exerting act as the force to make the coin move. Mentally push with your thoughts towards the edge of the coin. If the coin moves, replace it with a non-metallic object as your emphasis here is not real telekinesis
6. You must maintain as much as possible, your concentration on the shape of the coin by looking directly at it, but also by attempting to force your thoughts onto its edge.
7. If you are performing the technique correctly, you will become unaware of your surroundings. If you become distracted (which you will at first), turn your attention back to the coin and doggedly attempt to maintain it.
8. You can repeat for any object of your choice, but a small metal object is desirable since this attracts the brainwaves towards the focal point you are concentrating on, thus allowing them to become more precise.
Other Effects of This Technique
1. Increased listening ability
2. Increased mathematical ability
3. Ability to sustain more complex arguments
4. Increased ability to extract relevant information from sources
5. Increased ease of memorization
You should easily get an extra 5-15 IQ points on your existing IQ score using this technique. Practice for 6 days out of 7.
Learn more training … The author increased his IQ from 85 to over 180, using the methods and techniques he learned throughout his life. Visit his website at http://paydotcom.net/r/17925/justvis/3512889/
“Our mental and emotional diets determine our overall energy levels, health and well-being more than we realize. Every thought and feeling, no matter how big or small, impacts our inner energy reserves.” – Doc Childre
So, you’ve learned how to exercise your brain, stimulate your brain to be more retentive, and how to avoid stress that can affect your brain’s health. But there’s one more thing you can do to assure a healthy brain that will stay sharp for a long time. Believe it or not, you must take special care of your physical health in order to insure a healthy brain.
Learning to keep your brain healthy begins with your diet. That’s right, you need brain food. A starved brain will not get you far. Giving your brains the right foods provides the nutrients and chemicals you need to help develop your brain. Those brain cells need protection to resist damage.
The first nutrient you should consider adding to your diet, is Choline, a B-vitamin that will nourish the cells. It promotes brain health and can boost your memory. The best foods to in which to find this nutrient are eggs, nuts and meat. Omega-3 fatty acids, which are components of brain cell membranes, need to be replenished regularly with foods such as sardines, salmon, mackerel, and trout. You can also supplement your diet with fish oil tablets. This nutrient is especially important, since when you’re learning anything new, it creates new connections between cells in your brain, and that requires new membranes to cover them. So, enjoy that fresh fish as often as possible.
Making the news today is the information about antioxidants, especially those found in vitamin C, vitamin E, and beta-carotene. These are necessary to protect healthy cells from the damage caused by free radicals, which attack cells at a molecular level. The best source for vitamin C is in any of the citrus fruits, as well as strawberries, cantaloupe, spinach, green peppers, and broccoli. For a good supply of vitamin E, eat whole grains, nuts, apricots, fish, and vegetable oils. As for beta-carotene, try milk, peaches, and egg yolks. Stock up on the strawberries, blueberries, and spinach, which contain phytochemicals and will help boost your memory.
Basically, by eating a lot of dark-skinned fruits and vegetables, you’re giving yourself the highest levels of naturally occurring antioxidants.
Watching your diet and getting out to exercise several times a week will help keep your cholesterol down. This is important since studies have shown that high cholesterol can lead to unhealthy levels of beta-amyloid, a toxic substance that doctors have discovered which builds up in the brains of Alzheimer’s patients, and kills healthy brain cells. The good news is that HDL or ‘good’ cholesterol can help protect your brain cells. Using olive oil to cook your food, instead of mono and polyunsaturated fats will help your body and your brain. Baking or grilling your food rather than frying is another way to build up your HDL levels and lower your LDL levels.
Equally important to your brain is carefully watching your blood pressure. Doctors found that those who had high blood pressure in their middle years were six times more likely to develop some form of dementia later in life than their healthier counter-parts. Seeing your doctor and treating that high blood pressure is essential for good memory, and to help prevent dementia later on in life.
Eating properly and reducing your consumption of high fat and cholesterol foods, plus adding some form of exercise to your life, even if it’s just walking each day, will help you manage your body weight. Obesity is not just bad for your overall physical health, but it is also damaging to your brain. Once again, the doctors have discovered that adults who are overweight in their middle years were twice as likely to develop dementia later in life.
In order to have a healthy brain, it’s important to have a healthy body. Illness not only slows the body, but can bring about depression, which affects the brain. Physical fatigue can cause mental fatigue as well. You’ve heard people say, “I’m so tired, I just can’t think straight.” And it’s true, you need to be well rested and rejuvenated in order to be at the top of your game, physically and mentally. And remember, exercise also stimulates your brain. When you exercise, endorphins pump through your system, affecting your brain and making you feel good.
It’s simple, without a healthy body, you can’t hope to save your brain, your memory and your cognitive functions.
“Brains well prepared are the monuments where knowledge is most surely engraved.” - Jean Jacques Rousseau
This muscle test and exercise is based on the principle that when a person is under stress, their muscles become weaker which is a subtle response but often enough to detect differences. When the person is in a state of stress, the muscle will not hold, but if they are in a positive state, the muscle will remain firm. In this way you can ask a person a question, and get an answer from their subconscious mind, because if there is a problem, the subconscious mind will reveal it even if a person is not consciously aware of a conflict. Brain Gym is a branch of kinesiology, which uses the muscle test to communicate with the subconscious mind.
Using the muscle test, a Brain Gym practitioner will take a snapshot of the brain profile of a person, that is, they will determine which brain hemisphere is dominant in a person, and also which eye, ear, hand and leg is dominant.
Take for example, a problem with reading in school by a child. The ideal situation for a person is to have right-eye dominance when they are reading, because they are using their left brain, which contains the language center, and because there is a direct connection between the right eye and the left hemisphere. Brain Gym uses seemingly simple exercises to help the brain to establish a more efficient connection between these various elements. And the child’s reading proficiency will be improved.
While the full use of the method requires the assistance of a Brain Gym practitioner, I will give you simple example exercises that can encourage your brain to be more integrated:
The first one is called the cross crawl. While standing, lift up your left leg and touch it with your right hand. Put it back down, and then lift up your right leg and touch it with your left hand, and then start over again. After several minutes of this repeated, you are sending messages from your arms and legs to your brain. The constant crossing from one side to the other trains your brain to work harmoniously and use both sides.
Another exercise that has the same objective is the infinity sign or an eight sitting on its side. To trace this movement with your eyes, first look straight ahead, and then make a circle by looking upwards towards the left and then around and down back towards the center. Without stopping, make another circle by looking upwards towards the right, and then down and around towards the center again. Once again, this activates both sides of the brain and helps it to work in harmony. You’re strengthening the connections between the two sides.
You can do the same movement with your hands. Put your hands together in front of you, then move them in the same way, up left and around, and then up right and around. try to make as large a circle as you can, and work on making your movement fluid, with both sides of equal dimensions. If one side is bigger or more harmonious or easier for you than the other, then this may indicate that you are more comfortable with the brain hemisphere on the other side. This movement can be done with both hands together, and then with each hand individually. You can also do it in writing on a piece of paper or on a blackboard.
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There are a lot of different types of mental illness, and each type affects those who suffer from it differently. That’s why it’s so hard to diagnose the condition and then to find the right treatment for it. With treatment, the goal is to help those who suffer from mental illness have the highest quality of life possible.
There’s no known cure for most types of mental illness, but most can be treated, which is the next best thing to cure. In some cases, brain exercises may help reduce the effects of some types of mental illness, such as Alzheimer’s. Alzheimer’s occurs when people (mostly elderly, but not always) begin to have difficulty remembering things. Its onset and progression is usually slow, but ultimately, it makes someone’s quality of life very poor. Eventually, those who suffer from Alzheimer’s need constant care so as to avoid injuring themselves and sometimes others.There has been some research to show that utilizing brain exercises may indeed help slow the progression of diseases like Alzheimer’s, if not negate them altogether.
Therefore, it’s up to you to keep your mental faculties sharp, especially as you get older. As you get older, your cognitive abilities may indeed decline somewhat, but it doesn’t really have to be this way for most people. Rather, you can absolutely continue to improve cognitively as you age. Many people don’t realize that they can and should do “brain exercises” to keep their minds sharp.
In fact, it’s common to simply “let things happen” any way they do, but this isn’t always the best way to stay on top of things. Can you really expect your mind to stay sharp and your brain to function as it should if you don’t “exercise” it just as you do your muscles? To that end, have defined goals as to what you want to accomplish with your brain exercises, just as you do those for your body.
In fact, “brain exercises” have become common preventative treatments to reduce mental illness’s risks, and to help people stay mentally fit. And lest you think you’re too old to start now even if you have never done so, think again. It’s never too late to work on keeping your mind sharp well into your old age. That’s good news, because too often, people assume that what has always been done is what needs to continue. Sometimes, though, change has to happen. Even though this can be difficult, you can do it if you have a game plan, so to speak, and dedication to focus on your mental faculties and on “exercising” them.
It is true that it’s never too late to start exercising your mind even if you haven’t already, but that said, the earlier you start, the better. If you’re younger when you start mentally exercising, you can even further reduce the risk of mental illness or other mental deterioration versus someone who is older when they start.
There’s a lot of research that has to be done yet for this area, but it still can’t hurt to start now if you haven’t. The more you engage in mental excess, the better things will be for you. If you put the effort into staying cognitively sharp, you’ll live a life that’s healthier and happier over the long haul. Spend some time working on this area in your life, and you’ll find that your hard work will pay off in the days, weeks, months and years ahead. Even several decades from now, you can be productive and confident that you are an engaged member of society. Indeed, you give yourself personal power if you engage in the type of brain exercising you need to stay sharp, so don’t sell yourself short or underestimate what this can do for you.
You’ll also be able to balance mental and physical health if you engage in brain exercise. This is because both physical and mental fitness are important components of looking and feeling your best. If you’re not paying attention to one or the other (or both) as you should be, you’re going to suffer. Therefore, make sure that you actually exercise your brain just as you do your body; it’s as important to exercise mentally as it is to do so physically.
Again, brain exercises do offer many benefits to you, so that’s a very good reason for you to participate in them. If you participate in these types of activities, you can reduce the chances that you’ll suffer from mental deterioration, as you get older. These benefits do exist, although research is still outstanding as to what they are, exactly. Nonetheless, take the time to give yourself the opportunity to take benefit from these tools
What are “neurobics”? Actually, this is a term you may not be familiar with, but it’s similar to aerobics. Aerobics are exercises your body takes part in, and they keep you healthy and fit. By the same token, neurobics are exercises that your brain needs to stay fit, too. And if you do this day after day, you’re going to create some fun and some, well, disorganization in your world.
Neurobics are fascinating because you can use all of your senses to exercise your brain. It also allows you to explore your emotions and to see how everything works together. When you do this type of activity, your brain gets stronger. And in fact, you’ll actually grow new brain cells, which is important for overall mental health.
Some fun examples of neurobics include getting dressed, eating, or doing other familiar activities with your eyes closed. When you do this, you rely on other senses besides the ones you normally use to get these things done. Or, engage in a conversation where you can’t actually talk. Instead, you have to use body language to express yourself.
Another thing you can do with neurobics is to explore two things at once. This isn’t really the multitasking we’re more familiar with, and instead is something that you do to enhance creativity. For example, you can draw and listen to music on the radio at the same time.
You have a lot of routine things you do that you probably don’t even notice. In fact, these habits are simply a part of our brain patterns, and we do them without even thinking about them. With this type of neurobics, you’re going to change your normal routines so that you exercise your brain. For example, if you normally clean your kitchen first, do it last the next time you clean. The next time you start your day, do it differently than you “always” start it. In other words, shake things up, and do things little bit differently.
Another example is that you can use your non-dominant hand for an entire day to do activities you’d normally use your dominant hand for. It’s going to be very hard, and it’s going to take a lot of concentration on your part. However, you’ll probably discover that you’re going to get better as the day goes on. It will change the way your brain has to think when it comes to accomplishing a task that has become so mindless for you.
There are lots of different ways to experiment with neurobics. Have fun and try different things, and do everything you can to learn from it. With most of these tasks, you can do them at home, you can do them at work or when you travel. What’s important about this is that you identify those things you always do a certain way. When you do this, make a conscious decision to do it differently. You can also keep notes (which can be fun) to document what you’ve discovered as well as what comes out of your neurobic activities.
It can be very fun to take part in neurobics, because they will develop your mind. In fact, neurobic activities can help you discover what you — and your brain — can accomplish every day. And, it helps you see that your brain in fact controls a lot of what you do. All too often, we may just go along with it and not question it, but this needs to be something we put behind us. Explore neurobics, though, and you’ll see that you have the ability to change things around you and always keep learning fresh and new — and keep your brain challenged — a new and exciting ways.
We all know that we could use some more exercise. As a society, we are entirely too sedentary, spending a lot of time watching TV, playing video games and surfing the web – and far too little engaged in physical activity. This kind of lifestyle leads to obesity and low energy levels. We all are aware of this – but what you may not know is that low levels of physical activity means reduced cognitive abilities as well! As you get older, the difference becomes more and more apparent.
When you’re physically active, your circulation is improved and with it, cognitive function. When you exerciseregularly, you develop your entire circulatory system, including cerebral vessels. This is believed to be a large part of why exercise is beneficial to your brain.
One of the very best forms of exercise for improving your cognitive abilities is yoga. Yoga requires concentration as well as physical activity. It can be challenging at first, but don’t get discouraged. You’ll become better with practice and you will be able to move on to more advanced schools of yoga to get even greater cognitive benefits.
It may be news to you that about 20% of your energy is used by your brain – and just like any other part of you, it gets stronger with exercise. If you have trouble coping with stress and your responsibilities day to day, then you need to get more exercise; this will keep your body and mind in peak condition.
A lot of us have the best intentions when it comes to exercise, but we tend to put it off in favor of one thing after another until the day is done and we have no time left. We do this to ourselves; but once you do start getting regular exercise and start to feel the mental benefits, you’ll make exercise one of your top priorities.
Rather than helping you to come up with reasons to dodge exercise, you’ll start to find reasons to get more exercise. The results you’ll see will keep you motivated and make you proud of what you’ve achieved. Sooner than you may think, getting regular exercise becomes a habit and you’ll put off the less important things in life instead. Your brain will release more of the chemicals which produce a sense of well bring so you’ll feel better on every level.
Regardless of your age or what level of physical activity you get now, you can still make some positive changes. Begin by exercising 15 minutes every second day and increase this by 5 minutes a week until you’re at 30 minutes of exercise every other day. Once you’ve done this, promise yourself you’ll make those 30 minutes a daily routine. Working up this makes it less of a challenge and makes you less likely to get discouraged.
We all have busy lives, but anyone can make 30 minutes a day to get some exercise. Try in the early morning so you won’t make excuses about being too tired to exercise at night. You’ll start the day off feeling great – you’ll have already made some progress and done something good for yourself. There are plenty of different exercises out there, so you can do something which you like doing.
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You see, your intelligence will and can increase if you first BELIEVE that you can. Then you need to INTEND that you will ACT to increase your intelligence. And then it will increase.
