Can an economic downturn be good? Can it help you to recreate your life at a higher level? It can if you have the right mindset. That’s why it’s so important to teach your brain to think positively. But we also have to take care of the machinery of the brain itself. We need brain fitness.
The experts used to think that we all had a limited number of neurons in our brain. Then in the 1990’s, the decade of the brain, neuroscientists discovered that we could develop new neurons and new neuronal connections at any age. If we want to succeed in this new millennium, it behooves us to strengthen our brains.
Without help, our brains reach their peak in our twenties and then start deteriorating. By our 40’s we can usually notice a difference. It’s really very similar to what happens to our bodies. On the cognitive level, names disappear and our brains slow down. Multitasking becomes more challenging. The technical term for this is age related cognitive decline. It’s normal, but it’s not nice.
The good news is that there are things that we can do to slow down and reverse this process.
I’d like to give you an analogy from the physical world. In the 2008 Summer Olympics Dara Torres beat out women half her age to bring home silver medals. How did she do that? It wasn’t luck or chance. She created a professional training team to supercharge her body. On the everyday level, if you want to create a functional aesthetically pleasing body, you have a better chance if you work with a professional trainer or at least take a class. If you are extremely motivated, you can create your own program, but most of us do not have this level of commitment.
The key to training our brains is to expose ourselves to new and novel stimulation, continually challenging ourselves to take it to a higher level. Now we can all do this on our own to a certain degree. Crossword puzzles and suduko are good, and Nintendo DS, bridge, golf and bananagrams are even better. Traveling is great, especially if you learn a language, and playing a new musical instrument is a great neuronal enhancer. And don’t forget to eat a healthy diet, get physical exercise and decrease stress.
But the experience is enhanced with the expertise of a brain fitness coach. It is brain science to know that there are many different abilities that need training – logic, memory, attention, processing speed and mental flexibility, to name a few. Creating a training program that compensates for your weaknesses and enhances your strengths is an art.
When you’re looking for a job, you need your brain to be at its best. You need mental flexibility to figure out where the jobs are and how to format your old job qualifications into skills sets that will take you where you want to be. You need auditory processing ability and processing speed to answer questions in an interview. The best way to get these skills is with a brain fitness coach. You can even increase your brain fitness even if you’re dyslexic, have adult ADHD or a brain injury. Those with cognitive challenges often benefit the most.
A brain fitness coach can help you with stress too. It’s so easy for our thoughts to take a negative direction especially when we are looking for a job. Do you really have the luxury of wasting long periods of time in an unnecessary funk?
At Sparks of Genius, we’ve been training people to get the most out of their brains since 2001 and we have been cited as a brain fitness leader in The Wall Street Journal. You can work with your own personalized fitness coach or be part of a group. One day brain fitness coaches will be as popular as life coaches or personal trainers. But for you, that day can be now.
Ninah Kessler, LCSW, Brain Fitness Coach. SparksofGenius.com 561-859-4060
Brain fitness is indeed an important aspect of health, and for keeping the brain young.
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