Most people work out to keep their body fit, but very few people ever exercise to keep their brain fit. Just like your body, your brain requires exercises too. And it gets dull with no exercises. To strengthen your brain, there are some quick exercises you can do. In this article, find the top 3 brain exercises that are quick and easy to strengthen your mind.
- Use Your Weaker Hand
Most people are either left- or right-handed, which is their dominant hand. Very few people can work equally efficiently with both hands.
To exercise your brain easily and quickly, you should start using your weaker hand. So if you’re a left-handed person, try working with your right hand and vice versa.
The reason this simple task works so well is that it forces your brain to adapt to a different circumstance. When we do a particular task over and over again, the neurons in our brain get wired in a certain way. So we get used to it. We work more efficiently with our dominant hand than our weaker hand. By working with our weaker hand, we simulate the brain into trying something new. It needs to learn and rewire in another way, which strengthens your mind.
Neurobiologist Lawrence Katz explains the most effective brain workouts are those that are challenging for the brain.
In his published book titled “Keep Your Brain Alive” Dr. Katz states using your weaker hand as one of the most effective brain workouts. He coined those workouts as “neurobics.
The reason neurobics work is because they enhance the communication between the nerve cells. The decline in communication is the main reason behind sluggishness in the brain and decline in memory.
To get started, you can start with simple tasks like brushing your teeth, throwing and catching a tennis ball, slicing vegetables, and typing with your weaker hand. Gradually, you should do tasks with your weaker foot as well. Since it’s easy and can be done anywhere, you can strengthen your brain anywhere.
- Meditate
The previous exercise helps you rewire your brain. This exercise is all about relaxing your brain. People have been training and strengthening their brain through meditation for ages. And modern science is acknowledging its benefits as well. There are various types of meditation, but one, in particular, is great for brain exercising. And it is mindfulness meditation. This form of meditation involves focusing on your thoughts as they come to your mind. You do not have to worry about whether they’re good or bad, negative or positive. You just need to focus on the thoughts. Mindfulness meditation combines awareness with concentration. Since you force your brain into concentrating rather than letting it wander off, you end up exercising it. And it has several benefits too.
A study by psychology researcher Daniel Siegel in 2007 revealed that when you enter the state of mindfulness meditation, you engage new neural pathways. These increase your mental flexibility and the ability to self-observe. Along with that, you can expect an improvement in attention, focus, and empathy. Mindfulness meditation is even more helpful for people suffering from stress, anxiety, or depression.
Harvard researcher Gaëlle Desbordes looked at the effects of mindfulness meditation among depressed patients. After an eight-week course on mindfulness-based cognitive therapy, she concluded that they’re better able to control their emotions.
You can enter the mindfulness phase whenever you get free time, feel tired of or are stressed. Five minutes per session is enough to reap the benefits.
You can practice other types of meditations as well like focused meditation, movement meditation, spiritual meditation, and progressive meditation.
- Apps Like Lumosity
In this digital age, almost half of the world population owns a Smartphone. In countries like the US, the penetration is as much as 85%. Smartphones have a bad rep for causing mental health issues. And that’s right to some extent. Overuse of Smartphone can negatively affect your brain.
But there are ways through which you can exercise your brain using your Smartphone. And since most of us own a smartphone, it’s easier to do so.
There’s a really popular app called “Lumosity”. Known as the Brain Training app, it consists of several science-based games created to stimulate brain function and attention. There are over 50 games ranging from memory to speed to mathematics. To access them, you’d need a monthly subscription.
As per the research carried out by Katie Bainbridge and Richard E. Mayer, some participants who took part in the game, especially the flexibility games, performed better on tests than those who didn’t.
Lumosity is not the only app that can exercise your brain. There are apps like crosswords, sudoku, and puzzles that offer the same benefit as Luminosity. And they’re free to download and play. You can even play them in newspapers or magazines where they are regularly published. If you regularly play these brain-stimulating games, then they may change your brain to that of a 10-year younger individual.
Conclusion
In conclusion, we’d recommend you to start with any of the three brain exercises mentioned above. The key is here to stimulate your brain and challenge it with memory, time, or speed. By combining it with a physical workout, you’ll see far better results.
