A healthy brain plays a vital role in undertaking normal daily tasks. It is important to prevent visible, age-related neurological damages such as brain atrophy, memory loss, slowing, cognitive impairment and eventual dementia. The scientific researchers have proven that a healthy, balanced diet along with meditation and exercises can contribute to a healthy brain.
Meditation
Meditation could be either a focused attention or mindful meditation. Focused attention is an open-monitoring meditation, where the subjects focus on things without reacting to them. Mindful meditation requires strongly focusing on a single point such as a body sensation, breathing, or any object of one’s interest. This meditative technique requires regaining attention on the same point when the mind wanders.
Research has proven that regular meditation restructures and trains the brain to cope up with stress, improve concentration, well-being, and so on. During meditation, the brain’s frontal lobe undergoes complete relaxation, improves planning, reasoning, emotions and awareness. The thalamus slows down the incoming impulses thus improving attention and focus. Parietal lobe improves the space orientation, while the reticular formation improves the stimuli input, thus improving alertness. The following are some of the benefits of meditation:
Improves focus
Meditation generally requires attention and focus. This improves the concentration on a particular thing even during a non-meditative state. In fact, meditation is the best tool that strengthens overall brain function by improving focus and attention.
Minimizes anxiety
Meditation draws our mind away from routine stress and anxiety. Meditating regularly stimulates certain neural pathways and relaxes specific brain centers. It controls the mind’s response to stress by stimulating rational thought pattern.
Increases creativity
According to research at Leiden University in the Netherlands, the creativity level was assessed in subjects that practiced both focused attention and open-monitoring meditation. They have concluded that subjects who practiced open-monitoring meditation performed more challenging tasks and displayed creative ideas compared to those that practiced focused-attention meditation.
Improves compassion
Scientific research has proven that regularly meditating subjects have a higher rate of empathy and compassion. They can control emotional reactions well during stressful situations.
Improves memory
Meditation significantly improves rapid memory recall. Biomedical Imaging researchers suggest that mindful meditation quickly improves productivity, avoids distractions, thus dramatically improving memory.
Combats stress
Meditation minimizes psychological pressure during stress. For instance, subjects that regularly practice meditation can report less tension during a stressful multitasking test than non-mediating subjects.
Improves gray matter
Research studies claim that meditation significantly increases the amounts of gray matter in the frontal and hippocampus areas of the brain. Gray matter maintains longer-lasting emotional stability, positive emotions, and heightened focus in routine life.
Brain exercises
Our mind needs various kinds of brain exercises, which sharpen the memory, focus, relieve stress, thus contributing to brain fitness. These common exercises include physical workouts, morning walk, lifting weights, crossword puzzle, playing the quiz, recalling old memories, playing number games, learning a foreign language, hypnosis, positive affirmations and so on. According to research studies, brain exercises require quick thinking and can improve one’s mood, vision, hearing, motivation, focus, and productivity. They are best tools that can help prevent mental decline and memory loss. Here is a brief highlight about some of the brain exercises that can contribute to both physical and psychological state of well-being.
Neurobics
Neurobics incorporates simple brain exercises that require utilizing all five senses – sight, touch, sound, taste, and smell. It is a proven, effective tool that slows down age-related memory loss, improves brain performance and mental fitness. Mental decline is generally caused by the loss of brain cell communication, which minimizes the complexity and number of nerve cell branches known as dendrites. These dendrite connections can be regenerated by performing an appropriate mental exercise.
Intelligence boosting brain exercises
Some of the simple intelligence increasing brain exercises include:
Seeking novelty- Engaging in things that were never done before such as social service or philanthropy. Novelty activates dopamine neurotransmitter release, which promotes the regeneration of neurons.
Challenging tasks- Brain activity increases while learning new things. Engaging in a challenging work can improve creativity, boost confidence and increase positive thoughts.
Improve social circle- One can get exposed to new situations and ideas by interacting with others, which promotes cognitive growth. Some of the skills that fit with brain exercise criteria include creative writing, dancing, creating any form of art, traveling, geocaching, gardening, playing own music, learning a second language, martial arts, playing Scrabble or chess, craft hobbies, and camping.
Brain Training
Computerized brain-training programs such as BrainHQ, Lumosity, and Fit Brains incorporate simple puzzles that can significantly improve memory and IQ over time. One can even access smartphone-based apps to exercise their brain.
Physical Exercise for the Brain
Brain exercise would be incomplete without a regular physical exercise as there is a close interaction between exercise and brain function. Workouts increase the feel-good chemicals and neurotransmitters in the brain such as dopamine, serotonin, and norepinephrine which aid in combatting against stress. These brain chemicals improve new neural connections and activate new brain cell generation. Exercise generally improves the blood circulation and supplies enough oxygen to the brain, which inhibits mental decline.
Apart from following a brain-healthy lifestyle, the brain’s cognitive reserve can be maintained by regularly practicing meditation and incorporating brain exercises.
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References
http://yegfitness.ca/can-yoga-meditation-reshape-brain/
http://myempoweredworld.com/health-wellness/how-meditation-can-help-you-feel-healthier-and-happier/
Author Bio
Meighan Sembrano has done her Mass Communication degree. In her free time, she likes to write about health, lifestyle fitness, world news and beauty. She is an author at Consumer Health Digest since 2012. To know more about her, follow her on Twitter, Pinterest.