Exercising Your Brain

Staying healthy is a good goal that will help you live a long, healthy life but if your brain can't keep up, that's the point. The brain is also a muscle and follows the same principle of “use or dispose of it” as your other muscles. So how do you keep your brain fit? Mental exercise is the answer.

The two most important factors in keeping your brain healthy are traditional exercise and a healthy diet. Keep your body healthy and your mind will follow. But after that there are other ways to use your mind.

You may have heard people describe one of their older relatives as saying, "My uncle Larry is as good at art as he is, he does the New York Times Crossword puzzle every day." Uncle Larry has the right attitude but his murder is small. You see the best way to rejuvenate your brain is to break free from everyday activities and challenge yourself in new and unexpected ways. By making opposing words every day, you have created a common process that becomes difficult every day. Uncle Larry, it's time to add word search with Sudoku in a variety of ways.

Mindfulness activities:

• If you have a right hand, you are trying to brush your teeth with your left hand

• Try to achieve something with your eyes closed, such as putting a key in your front door or going to your fridge

• Try a different route in your daily commute

• Rebuild your day by writing down what you did. For example, if you are taking a trip to the zoo, when you get home try to write down all the animals you have seen in order.

Your mom may have told you that playing too many video games would turn your brain into a mush, but she was wrong. The Nintendo DS Lite has a few games designed to exercise your brain and is really good. They are varied enough to avoid being the norm and continue to challenge or after playing over and over again. But the main thing is that they enjoy spending time with them.

I recently played a copy of my cousin Big Brain Academy on his Nintendo DS. The game contains a lot of fun puzzles that you tried to complete in a set time. As you get the hang of the puzzle, it's over and there's something new to try. When I finished, the game informed me that my score was for a hairdresser.

If you are trying to cope with the effects of aging, exercise is good but don't forget to use your mind.