How to train your brain and why you need it?

 

Maintaining brain health is a prerequisite for a long and fulfilling life. To maintain normal brain function, you will need to understand how to train your brain and take care of it throughout your life. In this article, the Academy of Social Technologies will talk about what is meant by the concept of “brain health” and how to start taking care of your future today.

 

Brain Health Essentials 

Starting a conversation about maintaining mental clarity, let's figure out what brain health means, which means a little more than the absence of diseases and pathologies. A healthy brain is characterized by mental well-being, developed cognitive skills, and a significant amount of vitality, which helps a person realize their full potential. 

 

The state of the brain determines actions, emotions, and feelings - which is why it is so important to take care of this organ. Possible problems and the need to concentrate on taking care of the brain may be indicated by frequent and logical mood changes, depressive episodes, anxiety and other mental disorders, as well as ailments affecting the internal organs.

 

It is worth mentioning another significant category that determines the state of the brain - age, which inevitably changes both the brain itself and its performance. In addition, with age, the risks of the occurrence and development of dementia, Alzheimer's disease and a number of other serious diseases increase, which only confirms the need for the prevention of cognitive disorders and regular brain training.

Refusal of the fear of change as a way to train the brain 

A person often avoids change, afraid to face an unknown, and therefore dangerous, world. But in vain! The brain itself teaches us flexibility, because this organ is constantly changing thanks to the process of neuroplasticity - the ability of the brain to reorganize its own structure by creating new neural connections and restoring old ones. 

 

This happens, among other things, under the influence of experience and environmental changes, which means that new experiences are vital for brain development. Each practice of a new action strengthens neural connections. This stimulates the process of neurogenesis, which is responsible for brain plasticity and determines the ability to learn and develop, as well as adaptability.

 

As a rule, representatives of the younger generation are easier to acquire new knowledge and skills, which indicates high neuroplasticity, but with age a person, acquiring dynamic stereotypes, loses this ability. But these stereotypes are dynamic, which indicates their changeability.

 

Why neuroplasticity is needed

On a practical level, people with high neuroplasticity:

1. Easier to learn new skills.
2. Do not experience depression and anxiety or overcome episodes of depression and anxiety more easily.
3. More thoughtful and easier to concentrate.
4. Recover faster in cases of strokes and traumatic brain injuries.
5. They have better memory.

Finally, neuroplasticity is a determining condition for personal and professional development, because often this process requires complete or partial “reprogramming” of the brain.

Thus, a person who intends to maintain clarity of thinking will need to introduce the practice of self-care, as well as tirelessly develop himself, try new things, and regularly replenish his arsenal of skills and knowledge.

Next, we’ll talk about how to train your brain and fix this behavior at the habit level.

 

What to do to support brain health

Exercising, following a healthy lifestyle, and social interaction will work as ways to train your brain while maintaining your cognitive abilities. But you should understand that it will be extremely difficult to limit yourself to using one-time measures in this matter - you will have to take care of yourself throughout your life, starting from a very young age.

a.     Exercise regularly. Exercise is good not only for your health and figure, but also for your brain. Moderate exercise normalizes blood flow to the brain, which improves blood circulation and eliminates the risk of developing pathologies. It is not necessary to try to run a marathon - regular training, lasting up to an hour, with a moderate load that increases the heart rate will suffice.

b.     Take care of healthy sleep. During sleep, not only the physical resource of the body is replenished, but also the cognitive one - during the night's rest, the nervous system is cleansed of metabolic products, and other processes necessary for the healthy functioning of the brain take place. Surely, everyone has noticed that after a sleepless night, memory decreases and there is no special mood. And this is only in the short term, but imagine the picture with systematic lack of sleep and regular insomnia!

c.     Pay attention to nutrition. Try to eat a balanced diet, including enough omega-3 unsaturated fatty acids - an essential component for the proper functioning of brain cells. Don't forget about protein, which contains amino acids involved in the production of neurotransmitters. Therefore, include sea fish, nuts and seeds, and the right oils in your diet.

d.     Make your brain work and stimulate your thinking. Today there are a large number of games, programs and trainings available for brain development that will help it work better and faster. Don’t ignore these options, and if new technologies still cause concern, turn to proven methods: solving crosswords and Sudoku, board games that require logic.

e.     Maintain a healthy heart and blood vessels. The condition of arteries and veins is an extremely important parameter for brain health. Get regular medical check-ups to check your blood pressure, sugar and cholesterol levels, and take the necessary steps to keep your levels within normal limits. Eliminate bad habits: tobacco and alcohol consumption, which negatively affect both brain function and other health indicators.

f.      Maintain social connections. Positive and deep relationships with others are no less beneficial for health than adherence to sports and adherence to healthy eating principles. Don't ignore your friends and loved ones - spend more time together, join communities, take an active part in activities of interest.

 

Why the learning process cannot be stopped 

Studying is important not only in childhood and adolescence - today the concept of lifelong learning is gaining popularity, which consists of constant independent education focused on the development of personality and professional skills. This approach is also often used as a tool for brain training.

 

Everyone has a desire to explore the world around them, learn and grow. And satisfying this natural curiosity helps a person develop and grow. Today, learning does not mean sitting at a desk - new experience and knowledge come with experience or during socialization. Of course, developing new skills and gaining knowledge, mastering new sports, learning to use modern technologies is worth using specially developed methodologies that determine the order of the educational process and the presentation of material, include theoretical and practical blocks, and testing stages.  Following these methodologies makes learning easy and fun.

 

In addition to brain training, people who continue to study after graduation reap a number of other long-term benefits:

1. Finding an additional source of motivation and inspiration. Routine life with the automatic execution of programmed actions does not inspire inspiration, and a person begins to feel that he is moving along a long-trodden and useless rut, from which it is impossible to get out without a miracle. Finding your own interests and doing what you love puts you back in control of your life, instilling confidence that it’s never too late to start doing what you truly enjoy.
2. Opening up new possibilities and getting to know yourself. Imagine the picture: Elena, a business development director with brilliant career prospects, suddenly starts learning Chinese. Acquaintance with this new universe, access to which language opens, helps a girl to know herself better, to see her own reactions to difficulties and challenges. Gradually, with the development of language proficiency, Elena decides to propose to the management to start expanding business in China, fortunately, private trips to this country and studying at language schools, as well as communication in clubs of interest, helped the girl understand how the market of this country works and meet people ready for business partnership. This example shows the results that loyalty to one’s own interests leads to – consistency and sincere desire can change one’s life.
3. Improvement in other areas. While doing a new activity, a person not only trains his brain, but also develops other skills that can change his personal and professional life. The fact is that in order to master something new, you will inevitably have to upgrade your existing skills. For example, Elena trained flexibility, trying to find time in a busy schedule for classes, and communication skills, interacting with foreigners, which will allow her to feel more confident in a new project related to entering the Chinese market.
4. Building confidence. Setting and achieving small, realistic goals that the educational process involves leads to a strengthening of self-confidence. An additional bonus: increased self-esteem, reinforced by the success of the completed task and consistency.

 

Why new skills are good for brain health 

Learning new skills helps keep your brain clear and sharp. It is not necessary to resort to solving logical problems and performing complex tasks aimed at developing cognitive functions. It’s enough to start learning something new: take piano lessons, sign up for Latin American dancing, or take a programming course. A fundamentally new type of activity stimulates the construction of new neural networks and the formation of a supply of neurons, which increases the functionality of cognitive function.

Finally, taking up a new hobby helps you reset your brain and broaden your perspective, ultimately leading to better solutions. A person, distracted from everyday worries, begins to think about familiar things in a new way. Put aside doubts related to the applicability of new skills in everyday life; hobbies should not always be associated with professional activities or lifestyle. The main thing here is interest and desire, which will help to use the experience gained for the benefit of development. And remember: the more ambitious the goals, the more happiness and satisfaction you will experience when you achieve what you want. 

Relaxation and mindfulness as a form of brain training 

Meditation practices provide a person with a pleasant feeling of harmony and serenity, which not only helps a person relax and recover from the stress and tension that everyday life brings, but also, in the long term, has a positive effect on the health and activity of the brain.

 

Meditation and mindfulness practices have the same effect on the brain as exercise does on the body. With each practice, you develop the ability to concentrate for a long time, which means your thoughts wander less, aimlessly wasting the resource of cognitive activity and depriving you of strength.

 

Inner peace reduces anxiety and anxiety, helping you quickly return to a relaxed and balanced state in stressful life situations. By meditating, a person creates normal conditions for the functioning of the brain, but not only that!

 

Regular mindfulness practices can have a long-term effect on cognitive abilities. A restless brain, drowning in thoughts and ideas, often leads a person to jump to conclusions that lead to grief and disappointment. Both creativity and health suffer, because in such a state a person inevitably acts according to the “fight or flight” strategy, which is perceived by the body as a stressful situation. 

 

Meditation helps to tame the mind, giving the brain only the experiences it needs to develop harmoniously. Given that every new experience affects the brain, the process and quality of these changes are not always controlled, but awareness provides the key to intentional “reprogramming.”

 

In addition, with regular practice, a person discovers the ability to switch the brain to the default mode - a state of peace and contemplation of internal reality, which gives one’s own thinking, free from living incomplete situations of the past and trying to predict the future. And this is precisely what allows us to get closer to the ideal functioning of the brain, guaranteeing its highest performance, flexibility and creativity.