The Joy of a Healthy Brain - December

As each year comes to a close, December is the month when many of us think about what we accomplished during the previous eleven months and what we can do to make the approaching year better.  In the Joy of a Healthy Brain articles, we have focused on ways to maintain our long-term and short-term memory.    We want to fondly appreciate our yesterdays, enthusiastically live our today, and embrace the “promise” of our tomorrows.  A healthy brain can help us do this.

Dr. Paul Nussbaum, in his Your Brain Health Lifestyle:  A Proactive Program to Preserve Your Life Story, advises us to continue developing  and improving five areas of our being:  Nutrition, Physical Activity, Socialization, Mental Stimulation and Spirituality.  Each area is equally important and inter-dependent.

Another brain researcher, Dr. Jill Ammon-Wexler, encourages us with the reminder that when we are constantly learning new things, or playing mind-stimulating games that our brains can continue to grow in complexity—right up to a very advanced age.  She says that each challenge we present to our brain causes immediate physical changes—no matter our age.  The more we learn, the more “brain pathways” we create. The more we stimulate our brain, the sharper our memory and mental responses—the healthier our brain.

 So as we gather together in our diverse families to enjoy December’s different  holiday celebrations – Bodhi Day, Al Hijra, Las Posadas, Hanukkah, Christmas, and Kwanzaa—one thing seems to be a common denominator  to all of us.  We all want the quality of our lives to be strong.  An important factor driving a life of “quality” is our health:  physical and mental—body and brain.

December is the last month of the calendar year to do something good for our brain.  As we look back on the old year and look ahead to the new year, let’s continue to s- t- r- e- t- c- h the brain; give it something new and/or challenging !

1.        Read about a holiday that you may not celebrate but that others may celebrate in this country or in another country.

2.       Memorize a holiday poem and recite it to a loved one or friend.

3.       Visit someone who is homebound or hospitalized and take her a homemade holiday card .

4.       Start taking classes in yoga or  Tai Chi, or dancing ; or just commit to daily walks. Each physical activity helps to build  mind-power by supplying more oxygen to the brain.

5.       Try a new, but healthy, meal entrée from the menu of a different ethnic or religious group than your own.

6.       Check out these websites for stimulating games:  Thinks.com; puzz.com; games. AARP.org.

Happy Holidays, and may you continue to develop a joyful, healthy brain !