Brain Building Challenge Week One
You completed week one - great job!!
Here is the full week of challenges with a bit more explanation and references for each.
#1 - Breath deeply 7 times (in for 4 seconds, hold 4 seconds, out 4 seconds). You just oxygenated and calmed your brain - good work. For bonus points focus on the hope that the year brings, whisper something positive as you inhale ‘I am loved’ ‘I’m okay’ ‘I’m safe’ which refocuses your mind on the present positives. Rest in the beauty the year has in store for you.
Breathing is key to maintaining positive brain health. Diaphragmatic breathing is like pushing the restart button in our brain. It instantly decreases our anxiety and allows us to focus more clearly. It can also decrease our blood pressure and has been indicated to actually grow brain cells in aging brains.
#2 In your head calculate 2 times 400 divided by X = 50. Challenging your brain with math problems and not relying on a calculator can build your 'brain muscles' in the same way push ups build your arm muscles. This article discusses the way math builds children’s brains but it doesn’t stop in grade school challenging our brains to solve new problems keep our neurons firing and our brains healthy throughout our life time.
#3 The answer to yesterday's challenge was 16. Now do 16 jumping jacks, sit ups or push ups. Exercising your body as well as your mind gets blood and oxygen moving to your brain, improves memory, clarifies thoughts and improves mood. The good news is that according to this article , you don’t need to be a life long athlete or train for a marathon. 120 minutes a week of brisk walking was shown to increase brain growth.
Brain challenge #4 - Eat a handful of blueberries. Blueberries can decrease risk of memory loss, protect your brain from free radical damage, slow motor skill decline, and increase dopamine the ‘feel good’ brain chemical. Plus they are delicious in so many different ways .
Brain Challenge #5 - Meet someone new today. Introduce yourself to someone new. All that goes into such a challenge from remembering their name right after they told you to overcoming the anxiety of putting yourself out there builds healthy brain muscles.
There is a lot in this seemingly small challenge. Some of us meet new people everyday, its part of our job or just part of who we are. We strike up conversations with people around us without thinking twice. For others, I may have just as well challenged you to climb Mt Everest the thought of putting yourself out there puts you in a complete panic. The fight or flight response kicks in as our primitive brain prepares to eat or be eaten. For those of us in this position the mere thought of approaching someone may be enough of a challenge for today, but maybe consider a year long challenge like Albert Ellis who overcame debilitating shyness by challenging himself to strike up conversations with women at the park or consider these steps to understanding and overcoming stage fright. For those of us eager to meet people we are improving our cognitive performance, our mental attitude, physical health and our ability to learn to accept new ideas and ways of thinking.
Learning and remembering names is another big thing this article is great at exploring what happens when we try to remember names as well as tips to remembering names. Another issue I can't ignore is the fear of aphasia or memory loss when we see someone and can't remember their name though we know they are someone we know well. The reality is that this is a sign of memory loss. In fact word finding is often the first thing individuals struggle with as their memory begins to decline. However this can also be triggered by stress, distraction, or making other poor brain health choices. If you are consistently having trouble identifying people you should know, check with your doctor, this is a real concern. If your not entirely sure if you know the guy at the grocery store from your child's soccer team or a tv show, do one of the other brain health activities and it will probably come to you.
Brain Challenge #6: Ride a bike. Cycling 1-2 hours a week has been proven to improve long term memory retention. I have a personal attachment to biking its my exercise of choice and I was excited to hear the added benefits both physical and mental. I can say from personal experience that spin class makes my mind clear, my mood stable and my pants fit.
Brain Challenge #7: Get out some colored pictures or crayons and scratch paper, Spend 5 minutes drawing a picture or design, after 5 minutes switch hands and spend another 5 minutes coloring with your less dominate hand. You can scribble or do something intricate. Put on music, make some coffee or tea, light a candle, enjoy this time it can be a type of meditation but its also a way to wake up neurons that have been taking it easy for a while. Coloring is not just for children. This exact exercise is what I did to center myself in college, it helped me regulate my breathing, center my thoughts and calm me to a place where I was able to return to my work. Using your non dominant hand fires off new pathways stretching your brain to expand its ability to problem solve.
Well that’s a whole lot of information. I hope your brain is not too tired and you are ready to stretch your brain with me for another week. If you have not already please be sure to like my facebook page to receive the daily challenges or if you would prefer contact me here to receive challenges in your inbox.