Tips for Strengthening the Mind through Brain Fitness and Training
Exercise plays an important role in one's health and wellness, and while often forgotten it absolutely applies to the brain. When the brain is exercised, it helps prevent depreciation of one's mental faculties as they age. Like any other muscle in the body, the brain can be strengthened through the implementation of regular brain exercise.
Brain Exercises for Memory
Memory is often one of the first things to go as we age, and this can be truly debilitating because memory plays a key role in all of our cognitive abilities. Exercises to help improve memory can consist of listening to a song you've never heard of and trying to memorize the lyrics, playing games designed to help you focus on your recall abilities, taking a shower or getting dressed in the dark, or learning a second language.
You can also practice visual-spatial cognitive function by walking into a room and focusing on five objects, then leaving the room and trying to recall what the objects were and where they were located in the room. Try to recall the objects and their locations again in two hours. If this proves to be too easy, then increase the difficulty by trying to recall details such as the color of the items, the direction they are pointing or other minor details.
Brain Exercises for Comprehension
Learning new words is a great way to increase one's vocabulary, improve grammar and grow mental comprehension. A great way to exercise the brain to improve comprehension is to expose your brain to words you may not be familiar with. You can do this by reading a section of the newspaper you regularly avoid or by reading a book in a genre you haven't tried before. By doing this, chances are you will find a wide array of words that you have never seen before and common words used in ways you never thought of.
Brain Exercises for Improving Focus
A good attention span is critical in today's world where distractions are found at every corner. Performing mental exercises to help improve concentration will help keep your brain focused at all times. A good exercise to help improve attention and focus is doing two things at once, like listening to an audiobook while doing the dishes, or doing math in your head while taking a shower.
Brain Exercises for Executive-Function
Executive function is our ability to solve problems using reasoning and logic. A good way to exercise this ability is to play games that require you to make quick decisions. There are many games out there, both digital and analog, that can be a lot of fun to play.