Seven Tips for Looking After Your Brain

People are realising that we need to look after our brain as well as our body and although it is better to look after it from a young age, we can also look after it at any time throughout our lives. In other words, it’s never too late! Even people with severe brain disorders, mental health or physical disabilities can work on their brain.

Here are seven tips that you can start straight away to look after your brain.

1. As far as your brain is concerned – use it or lose it. Just as if you sat all day you’d lose the ability to walk, if we stop using our brain in some ways, we’ll lose that ability too. If you find something difficult to do and would rather give up, think about your brain and keep going. Your neurons will love you for it! Any new, challenging idea will help. In Ageless Grace® we use our brain in all sorts of ways and have fun at the same time!2. What’s good for your heart is good for your brain, too. As people improve their diet and reduce their risk of heart disease, so too, their risk of dementia reduces. So throw away those cakes and biscuits and take up a carrot stick or a piece of fruit.

   3. Our brain loves a challenge – so do something different. Do you always turn to the sports page in the newspaper, or always sit in a particular spot in the cafe? Challenge yourself! Sit somewhere else and open the newspaper at a different section. It may not seem to make a difference, but your brain will notice. Taking yourself out of your comfort zone will be good for your brain.

   4. Keep on moving. Any exercise you do is good but remember that even pottering in the garden or doing the household chores is keeping the body moving, too, bringing oxygen to the brain. Get dancing or walking so that you enjoy what you are doing.

   5. Get your hearing checked out. A high-risk factor for brain health is hearing, thought to be because of the social isolation that comes from not being able to hear or join in. Don’t let something that can be remedied hold you back. If you have hearing aids – wear them! They won’t help you if they are not in your ears!

   6. Get a good night’s sleep. Scientists believe that it is during sleep that the toxins built up during the day are cleared out. Also, it is during sleep that our memories are strengthened and information is transferred from one part of the brain to another. While you need good quality sleep, too much sleep can be bad for the brain. It seems that more than 9 hours sleep increases the risk of heart disease and stroke, diabetes and even death.

   7. Have fun. Being able to laugh has benefits not only for the body but it is also helps improve the immune system, relieves stress and triggers emotional and reward centres in the brain to produce feel-good hormones. You can get these benefits by having fun, doing what improves your mood and makes you happy.

Find out more about some of the things that will help your brain and body in “The ABC of Compassionate Communication” ebook.