Brain is the center of our nervous system and it controls every other process in our body. The brain’s health is very vital for our physical and mental wellbeing everyday. Being just about 2% of our body weight and typically consuming more than 20% of oxygen and energy, it is clear that you’ve got to pay separate attention to its well being.
While you may have heard about exercising to stay physically fit, it is also important to involve in some workouts to train your brain. As the with phrase, use it or lose it, your mental health degrades if you do not stimulate your brain every now and then.
Just like how exercise help build muscle and reduce healing time over a illhealth, mind workouts help your brain withstand neurological damage due to aging and various other factors. An old adage states you cannot teach new tricks to an old dog, however, scientists have proven this claim to be false. With the right amount of training, your brain can form new neural pathways, alter the existing ones and adapt to ever changing lifestyles.
So what types of exercises help your brain? To keep your mind sharp, you need a combination of physical and mental workouts, which is what this article is all about.
1. Running
People generally associate running with physical activities, it also helps your intellectual ability. While it helps in reducing weight, improving your cardio health, and build muscle mass, at the same time, it helps your mental health. Increased awareness, improved attention, tuning out distractions, and switching between tasks are some of the mental benefits of running. Without going in depth scientifically, it’s clear that running helps you improve your mental health.
2. Try Cooking
Cooking is one of the most loved hobby for many people. Little do people do know that it has its share of mental benefits. Cooking involves using a number of senses – smell, touch, taste, each of it is related to certain part of your brain. Learn cooking a new cuisine every now and then.
3. Try a Jigsaw Puzzle
A jigsaw puzzle is a puzzle game where you need to assemble oddly shaped interlocking and mosaiced pieces. No matter whether you are putting togther a 100 piece image of Taj Mahal or joining 1000 pieces to create a cartoon character, it’s an excellent mental workout. Research indicates that playing jigsaw puzzle helps you improve your cognitive skills and visuospatial skills.
4. Play Online Skill Games
Thanks to the internet, now all of us can enjoy games comfortably couched on our sofas from our living rooms. Skill games enjoy a special place in the heart of gamers. People of all ages play these online skill games to improve mental functioning.
Games like 13 card rummy, poker, and chess involve tremendous amount of mental skills. For example, while playing a rummy game online, there are number of skills involved like concentration, observation, and decision making, which makes it a perfect mental workout. As the game requires to think at every turn and take decisions, your decision making skills vastly improves.
5. Learn and teach a new skill
One of the best ways to keep your mind active is to learn a new skill. It may be anything. Learning a new activity refreshes your brain and creates new pathways. While learning is good, it is also important to share it with someone. Knowledge without sharing is useless. Learn a new skill and share it with someone and correct their mistakes while they practice.
Conclusion
Sure, there are many other mental workouts that you may across like meditation, listening to music, learning a new language. The basic idea is to engage in activities that are likely to benefit your brain and increase its power. A dormant brain is not just bad for your mental health but poses a grave danger to your physical health as well. Pick an activity that works for you and start practicing them at the earliest.
