Feb 29 2008
The 7 Great Adaptations of Brain Power
The Seven Great Adaptations of Brain Power:
Why They are Life-or-Death Important, and How to Use Them Today
Glossary: Adaptation: 1. A set of responses to stimulus. 2. The basis of creativity and innovation.
The human brain is designed to get smarter throughout life.
Are you feeling smarter and smarter? Are you noticing more pleasure and satisfaction with your thought process? If you are, I’m willing to bet you are engaging all of these concepts in some way. If you’re not, the article below will help you understand what’s going on - and how to start changing it immediately with little shifts.
The brain gains power or loses it depending on the choices you make right now.
You can start immediately. The good news is, it is never too late to build brain power. Yes, it works just like a muscle, and indeed you use it or you lose it. Here’s the great news: We know so much more about what the brain requires than we did twenty years ago. Take a deep breath, give those cells some oxygen, and let me walk you through these highly productive adaptations.
First, The 3 BUILDING BLOCKS of brain power:
1. Physical fitness
The brain requires oxygen! Lots of oxygen! Blood circulation is key, and you know how you get that blood circulating. Yes, exactly, by moving your body. Come follow along here at Great Adaptations. I’ll be showing you lots of different ways to approach fitness, and joining you in the quest for optimal oxygenation.
You can start today with a little shift: Park your car at the far edge of the parking lot, wherever you are going. Add that extra 1-200 steps to your errands. If weather bars this option, then start using the stairs everywhere you can. Go at your own pace, just add this one little shift so you start building some momentum.
2. Stress reduction
We are learning a great deal about the profound effects of stress on the brain. While there are many forms of stress, and not all of them are bad, many people have unresolved stress which does not abate. This causes, among other things, the continual presence of cortisol in the brain. Cortisol is a hormone which interferes with memory and other brain functions when constantly present. There are many other ill effects from ongoing stress. Start turning the tide on stress right now.
Little shift: Use simple stress reduction techniques to take the heat off, while you begin to learn to eliminate the causes of stress in your life. The power nap is a great stress reducer, and you don’t even have to sleep to get the benefit. Relax in your chair, close your eyes and slowly count backwards from 300. Breathe deeply while you do this.
3. Nutrition
The brain slurps up all kinds of nutrients in the course of its daily work. Learning what the brain needs to function at optimal levels is well worth the time. There are many foods that provide the brain with high-quality nutrients, and the best ones are dark-colored vegetables and fruits, lean proteins, and legumes. Since we can’t get everything we need from our food, some supplementation can also be helpful. The brain functions on glucose, but sugar can easily backfire and cause brain meltdown!
Little shift: Start your day with some lean protein. For that tiny sugar boost to get the neurons firing, drink a small glass of tomato juice. Adding a spinach salad for lunch or early dinner several times a week will make a long-term difference.
Next we have pro-active brain growth arenas:
Actions which provide protection against age-related brain decline:
4. Meditative arts
This includes yoga, tai chi, sitting meditations, chanting and mudras, among other arts. Meditation has been shown in numerous studies to produce brain-wave changes which are extremely helpful in reducing stress, making it easier to learn, and improving memory.
Little shift: Attend a new class in meditation or yoga at your local gym or The Y.
5. New Learning
What have you always wanted to try? This is where you can experience great satisfaction and pleasure by putting your brain through its paces. Continual learning throughout life is both a delightful outcome and a mandate for brain health. Consider engaging a completely different part of your brain. If you are great at math, try writing poetry. If your career keeps you sedentary, try learning some dance steps. The more diverse your activities, the more powerful the benefit to your brain. It is important, though, that you are genuinely interested in the new activity. Forcing yourself to do something you really don’t want to do will add stress to your life.
Little shift: Go through your recent Community College catalogue, and find some classes you have never really considered before. Attend an informational talk about some areas you might find challenging.
6. Outreach
Studies have shown enormous benefit to the brain with the activities of community outreach. People who accept the challenges of relationship that come with volunteering, for example, are among those who enjoy brain health into their 90s and beyond. Outreach is about the effort it takes to understand how to relate — and it is a perfect metaphor for what happens at the cellular level in the brain. Trying to understand a different culture, person, animal, or organization triggers the brain cells to reach. And this is brain growth.
Little shift: Take a look at your community’s volunteer structure. Find some opportunities that have special appeal to you. Especially look for activities that cross over into multiple areas of brain challenge, such as learning a language in order to help serve a community group or better understand another culture.
AND OUR BONUS ADAPTATION:
7. Creative Thought
Habitual thoughts, often unnoticed, dictate most of our life experience. Unexamined, they are major limitations. Our thoughts can release a cascade of neural responses, chemicals, and hormones through our bodies. This cascading effect is especially dangerous because it is reflexive, unnoticed, and connected to areas of our brain that have been entrenched for most of our lives. Early fears and hurts form the foundation of habitual thoughts. The brain is an ever-compounding neural net which brings more connections to our emotional foundations with every hour that passes. Re-ordering our neural net, which is what we do when we change a habit, is a very interesting process. Successful behavior change is still rare, but we are starting to understand how to approach it.
After tending to the basics of brain health, the exploration and practice of creative thought can begin, opening doors to new worlds.
Little shift: Take a few moments to engage the imagination. Sitting quietly, eyes closed, allow a sense of connection to the imagination. This may arise visually, through a feeling, or even a voice! Once there is some connection noticed, ask your imagination to show you a limiting thought. For some people this will produce a distinct and immediate response. It may make you laugh out loud with how obvious it is! For others, it will seem like nothing is happening. The trick here is to assume, or posit, that it is actually happening. Now, with the image or sensation that you have revealed a thought that limits you, breathe in and smile as you allow it to unravel. In your mind’s eye, let this perceived limitation open and expand in any way that is meaningful to you. Sit with this expansive feeling for a few moments. As you begin to open your eyes, take a deep breath, smile, and say thanks to your imagination. Go through your day with the sense that you are peeking into your subconscious. You’ve initiated a new relationship with your imagination. With practice, this can grow into a valuable tool for enhancing the life you create.
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