The Joy of a Healthy Brain - October

A joyful life usually includes experiencing a life of dignity and quality. It means being able to do things in a way that brings us a feeling of fulfillment, pride, and happiness. Sometimes we can’t do things the exact way or at the exact pace as we used to in the first half of our lives. However, if we are committed to maintaining a healthy brain, then the second half of our lifetime can be just as awesome as the first.

For years we have heard that getting older means that we just can’t learn new things anymore. Many of us took that to heart and gave up the idea of learning a new language or trying our hand at a new sport or a new hobby.  Well, the good news is that brain experts are now convinced that if we engage in “active learning” throughout our lifetime, it will help us to maintain our brain health.  If we embrace the idea of “learning new tricks” or just doing old things in a new way, we will activate parts of the brain that may not have been used before.  The treat will be the creation of greater activity in the brain—the more activity, the better.  Additionally, experts say it’s never too late to try doing new things—things that you might not consider yourself to be good at doing.

So, where do we start?  Here are a few suggestions of some basic things that you can do to “wake up” some of those “sleepy” brain cells:

·         Play a few new card memory games—alone or with a partner.

·         For several minutes each day, use your non-dominant hand when writing or eating.

·         Drive a new route to the grocery store; in fact, shop at a different store this month.

·         With your doctor’s approval, start doing or change your daily physical exercise routine.

·         Using your artistic skills, decorate the bags into which you will put Halloween “goodies” for your neighborhood children (you don’t have to be a “real artist” to have fun doing this).

·         Using a new recipe, bake decorated Halloween cookies to give to your family.

·         Make yourself a costume or a funny hat,  and wear it to your social activity center on Halloween.

Some of these activities may seem silly, but they can be fun too.  Also, It may seem “mentally uncomfortable” to perform some of them,  but an important thing to know is that you don’t have to “master” the activities, and you don’t have to be an artist to do some of the creative projects. Just the “effort” to do things differently or to do something new contributes to making your brain more healthy.