Brain Exercises: Keep Your Noggin Virileexercise
Tease your brain
A child being teased responds with an increased energy and flow of adrenaline. Likewise, brainteasers increase the flow of energy to the brain, exercising short-term memory. Teasers force concentration, converting long-term memory into a library of information. Puzzles, riddles, word searches, pokeno, and even a good mystery book can stimulate the brain's ability to reason and calculate.
 | Use it or lose it Anxiety and stress drain the mind. Boredom and repetition put the mind into a state of suspended animation. Deep and deliberate breathing, much like that of yoga, reduces stress. Working a crossword puzzle each day has limited benefits. Cross-train your brain much like you would your body. Alternate a word puzzle with games for senior citizens and computer games. Try a fun game of pokeno to play with your friends. Put your favorite search engine to work, connect your noggin to the Internet and make a point of researching something new each day. Tap into your subconscious by reasoning out a problem before sleep and letting the unconscious mind mull it over. |
IQ boosters Quality and quantity of sleep affect how the brain functions. Senior exercise equipment wakes the mind, so when your brain becomes gridlocked, take a walk. Sitting up straight in your seat increases alertness, concentration, and the level at which your brain functions. The brain is a giant computer that shuts down under extreme stress to avoid loss of pertinent data. Simplify problems and encounter them as a general leads his army into war - one battle at a time. Journal to release negative energies and to improve memory. |  |
Food for thought
Simple carbohydrates have a lethargic effect. As the body absorbs foods like sugar, white flour, potatoes, and pasta, insulin is released into the bloodstream and the combination depletes energy sources. Salmon, tuna, herring, and mackerel (high in omega-3 fatty acids) are considered brain foods.