Health and wellness

Tips to exercise your brain and stay mentally sharp

It’s natural to think about staying physically fit and active as you get older, but has the health of your brain slipped your mind? Most people don’t give their mental acuity a second thought until they start forgetting things or memories begin to fade. Think of your brain like a muscle—you need to train it to maintain it. Just like giving your muscles a workout can make them stronger and enhance their performance, exercising your brain can keep it fit and improve how it functions. If you think that maintaining your mental acuity needs to be lots of work, think again. Keeping your brain in good shape can actually be fun with easy and enjoyable brain games to keep your mind sharp. Start fitting these mental exercises into your daily routine to gain peace of mind and sharper acuity.

Why exercising your brain is important

You know that keeping your body fit requires a variety of physical exercises. Keeping your mind sharp also demands certain exercises. These mental exercises can stimulate your brain to help keep it healthy and strong. While maintaining mental acuity is important at every age, it’s especially beneficial as you get older because aging naturally slows many mental processes. As a result, it may get harder to figure things out, focus, and recall names. Luckily, mental exercises can fight these effects by strengthening your brain and making it more resistant to the challenges of aging.

Keep the benefits top of mind

Giving your mind mini mental workouts on a regular basis can work wonders for the health of your brain. Simple games to keep your mind sharp can maintain your cognitive fitness in a variety of ways and offer the following benefits:

• Improves your memory
• Enhances reasoning skills
• Sharpens your thinking
• Increases focus and concentration
• Speeds up thinking and reaction time
• Improves creativity and intelligence
• Enhances motivation and daily functioning
• Boosts your mood
• Reduces stress
• Slows cognitive decline

Tips for keeping your mind sharp

No matter your age or stage of life, the following five tips for keeping your mind sharp can help you maintain cognitive fitness, and can also be a lot of fun!

1. Pick up puzzles – Whether you’re working on a crossword puzzle or putting together a 1,000-piece jigsaw marvel, puzzles give your brain a good workout because they can stimulate multiple parts of your brain, such as logic, attention, visual perception, and reasoning. The wide array of puzzles available means they can also fit easily into your daily life.
2. Learn more – Learning a new skill may seem to take the most effort, but can also be the most enjoyable and rewarding. Along with helping you acquire a skill you’ve always wanted, taking a class or picking up a new sport can help maintain your brain cells and improve your memory, while helping you gain new friends and confidence.
3. Sharpen your senses – It makes sense that the more senses you use when learning something new, the more your brain will be involved in preserving the memory. Studies show that using your senses can stimulate, activate, and even strengthen new areas of your brain. To give your brain a good workout, start doing activities that use as many of your senses as possible. Start gardening while focusing on the colors of the plants and scents of the blooms. Try a new restaurant while enjoying the sights, scents, and tastes of your meal. Even traveling to a new place and savoring the many sensory surprises can stimulate the brain.
4. Open your mind to meditation – For centuries, many cultures around the world have turned to meditation to soothe their minds and enhance their health. Today, research reveals that this mind-calming practice can also sharpen your memory, improve attention, and increase your brain’s ability to process new information. These benefits make mediation worth thinking about as you age.
5. Keep socializing in mind – Meeting new people, getting together with friends, and going to social gatherings can help you stay mentally sharp. In addition to keeping your mind engaged, social interaction protects you from isolation and reduces your risk of cognitive decline.

It’s a good idea to start adding these mental exercises into your daily routine to get a head start on staying sharp. Your SignatureMD-affiliated doctor is always available to answer your questions and respond to any concerns. Hopefully, these tips for maintaining your mental acuity will help ease your mind about staying mentally sharp.

Sources:

• https://www.health.harvard.edu/mind-and-mood/6-simple-steps-to-keep-your-mind-sharp-at-any-age
• https://www.verywellmind.com/brain-exercises-to-strengthen-your-mind-2795039
• https://www.thehealthy.com/aging/mind-memory/brain-exercise/

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