MORE WAYS THAN ONE
There are many ways that we can take charge to decrease the rate at which our brains age. As a preventive measure, the advice is to: Practise regular physical activity. Take part in intellectually stimulating activities. Manage stress. Eat healthily. Stay socially active. Rest well.
Even if our cognitive reserve is not ideal, there is much we can do to keep mentally fit as we age. Older people can train their minds to improve their memory and cognitive skills.The key is to continue to keep the mind active by engaging in cognitive activities like reading, playing challenging games such as chess or crossword puzzles, learning new skills, being socially active or studying subjects that interests you. People who engage in these activities are less likely to lose their mental ability than those who do not. Other ways you can improve according to an article by Harvard are:
1. Use all your senses: The more senses used to learn something, the more the brain is involved in retaining the memory.
2. Believe in yourself: Don’t be so easily led to believe in negative stereotypes about ageing and memory. It is said that people who believe that they have no control of their memory function or joke about “senior moments” too often are less likely to work at maintaining or improving their memory skill and therefore experience cognitive decline.
3. Economise your brain use: Try to preserve your mental energy to learning or remembering new and important things instead of where you left your keys or when is your doctor’s appointment. Make use of calendars or an appointment book to keep tabs on important dates and designate a place for items you use often. mastering the mind. With the mind being the source of stress and worryΩfactors that accelerate ageing, meditation which essentially provides a calming effect can slow down the brain’s ageing process.
While stress may not seem like an issue for older folks who have retired from the workforce and can now simply relax and enjoy their life, often it can make it worse. With a lot of time on their hands and not much to do, the tendency to over think like rehashing the past and worrying about the future is common. Often, this can lead to emotional upheavals. “When we think too much, often it is about the past and future. This takes up a lot of mental energy, which starts to affect our memory and our thinking power.”
She suggests doing a mind fast to preserve one’s energy. The key is to cut out waste thoughts (which keeps us busy doing nothing) by practising awareness. She says to stop five times a day to recollect. “Stop and be aware of where your thoughts are. For just three minutes, check where are your thoughts. Every time the mind runs away to some thought or another, be aware of it and it will stop and bring you back to the present. Become the embodiment of awareness and you become the embodiment of power.” Besides helping her with her mind, meditation has also helped Bridget to gain wisdom, become more positive, happier, optimistic and have gratitude for life.
This article was composed with the help of several online sources and interview with Datuk Bridget Menezes. Bridget is a speaker, counsellor and writer on topics related to selfimprovement, positive thinking and stress management. She is also the author of the book Self Empowerment. To contact her, email bridgetmenezes@yahoo.com.