“IF I ONLY HAD A BRAIN“  
      and other grey-matter challenges

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After reading an article by Linda Melone who stated “Like your muscles, your brain needs regular workouts to stay healthy and fit as you age”,   I suddenly recalled that lately,  Dave has been doing some things that seemed silly but were really activities to keep his mind in shape (hopefully next will come that big belly of his…but that’s another issue). 

Over the past several months that he’s been laid off from work, he’s done things like memorize the books of the Bible, the dates – in order – that each state  came into statehood, will copy down facts related to important things in a notebook to which he refers regularly, and of course he does that map thing.  (I’m serious – no matter where I want to go, he has to draw me a map to get there, even if it’s three blocks away!) 

According to David Eagleman, Phd, neuroscientist & assistant professor at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, we can strengthen our brain function in any number of ways and these “brain exercises” can be fun as well as challenging.  It can be anything from taking an alternate route home from the grocery store to something really simple like combing your hair with your ‘other’ hand.

Aging damages our brain’s cognitive resources and doesn’t necessarily give us any signs.  We may think that putting our car keys in the freezer instead of on the holder marked “KEYS” when we come in the back door (I did that when my 34 yr. old  daughter was about 6 and she’s never let me forget it)  is a marker for Alzheimer’s, but in truth these weird things happen to everyone.  While it may not be car keys in the freezer, it could be leaving a pot on to boil while going out to the mailbox then thinking about picking up  milk at the store and off you go – never having gone back inside to turn off the stove.

Age-related changes, which includes the damage that is done with Alzheimer’s, can be slowed and maybe even delayed by simple exercises aimed at increasing your brain’s cognitive “reserve” which is like a  ”backup generator” of  brainpower. 

As a holistic healthcare practitioner, I know the textbook – and practical – basics to put in place: a well-balanced nutrition program low in fat and cholesteral, eating foods high in antioxidants and employing the addition of natural, whole-food supplements should I need more “good stuff” that I may not be getting in what I eat plus some old-fashioned exercise.   

Research is showing that the very best approach is not one-sided, but multi-faceted and integrative … regular physical AND mental exercises that will enhance vascular health and protect the tissue of our brain.  Although my husband learned in high school the order that each state was added into statehood, his re-learning and re-committing it to memory will play a critical part in avoiding dementia.                                         

When the brain is passive and the body sedentary, both have a tendency to become sluggish … which is why sitting in front of a TV for hours a day can be bad for your brain health over time!  They don’t dub it the “boob tube” for nothing, ya know!

1.  Do like my husband Dave, did:  make a challenging list of something … the books in the Bible, grocery items, states and their capitols – anything – and memorize it.  THEN…an hour or so later… see how many things from your list you can remember.
2. Ditch the calculator and add, subtract, multiply IN YOUR HEAD.  Try adding a physical activity at the same time, such as power walking.
3. Request your wife (or husband if he cooks) to fix something new and different; eat with eyes closed and see if you can name what you’re eating…and the spices used in it.
4. Play with word associations:  grab a word from the dictionary, think about it’s meaning, then visualize in your mind a picture of it or a picture of something you’d associate with it.
5. Go online and learn Spanish (or any other foreign language)!  Your local library will have books and audios for this, too.
6. Try new activities that use as many of your senses at one time as possible (like gardening).
7. Get that eye-hand co-ordination going!  Learn a new skill or pull out an old one out of the closet; I used to enjoy American decorative painting…think I’ll give it a whirl, again.
8. Take up a sport – any sport – as long as it takes some brain work (like golf, playing pool, etc.)
9. Take some adult education classes:  gourmet cooking comes to mind because it involves all your senses – sight, smell, taste (yum), touch – all which engage different parts of the brain.
10. Get your groove on:  learn a musical instrument!
11. Okay, okay….number eleven is <heavy sigh>: DRAW A MAP.  Take a little road trip; then when you get home, challenge yourself to draw a map of “how to get there”, again.

Quick! Think of a number from 1 - 10!

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• It’s all in the brain (openparachute.wordpress.com)

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