Friday, September 4, 2020

It's Important To Work Out Your Brain Too

 When we think about working out and staying healthy, we often think more about the body than the brain. Even with the awareness about mental health that has been raising lately, we still don’t take it as seriously that all of us, every individual, need to take the time to exercise their brain to keep it in good health for as long as possible.


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Play card or tile games

Solitaire, poker, bridge, go, mahjong. There are a lot of different tile and card games that have been long played due to not only their competitiveness, but also their ability to keep the mind stimulated. Playing these for the first time might mean having to learn a few new rules but, once you get over that hurdle, websites like https://cardgames.io/solitaire/ can make it easy to play them a little bit every day. The video game Tetris has much the same effect.


Try some puzzles

With games, you tend to learn the rules so that you can better approach the same kind of challenge but reorganized in a new way. With puzzle books like those found at https://www.pennydellpuzzles.com/logic-math/, you have to use your abilities of logic to try and solve brand new challenges. Puzzles, in general, lead to increased brain volume in various areas of the brain, helping you become and remain a quicker thinker.


Learn new skills

From a new sport to how to draw, from how to cook new recipes to how to do DIY fixes around the home. There are tons of new skills that anyone can take the time to learn, and the internet makes it easier to learn than ever, especially thanks to all of the tutorial YouTube channels to be found out there. New skills and experiences not only help keep your brain healthy, but they also help you better experience time. New experiences make time feel like it’s going more slowly, whereas the days can seem to go by all too quickly if you’re repeating the same things day-in and day-out.


Learn new words

Improving your vocabulary can help improve parts of your brain, specifically the visual and auditory processing centers, helping your senses stay sharp. You can learn languages at sites like https://www.busuu.com/ to combine the benefits of boosting your vocabulary while learning a new skill, too.


Socialize

Not all exercises for the brain have you put in too much effort into tackling a new challenge. Sometimes we simply have to activate parts of our brain that would kick in naturally, but that we might neglect. Dementia is an issue that can affect the young as well as the old, and maintaining a healthy social life has been shown to be one of the most effective ways of fighting it off.


The brain may not be a muscle but, without enough activity, it too can start to atrophy. It can affect our mental health, our emotional health, and our capacities for memory and understanding far into the future. Ensure that future looks a little brighter with the tips above.