Your Mind Needs A Workout Too

There’s a craze right now to get in shape, staying fit and healthy and that’s by no means a bad thing. But by focused too much on our body, are we starting to forget about our mind? Interestingly enough, it seems like we are because cases of dementia are becoming more prominent and they are even occurring in younger people.

Researchers have suggested that signs of dementia could be reduced or even prevented with the right brain exercises and the workouts are quite simple. For instance, you can think about completing memory exercises that are sure to help keep your mind clear. ‘In my basket’ is a classic memory game that you can play with members of your family. With this game, you simply add items to a list, each taking turns, and every time a new item is added the list must be recited. It can be more fun than it sounds depending on what items you choose for the list.

Of course, staving off the signs of dementia isn’t the only benefit of mental exercises. There are others that you might want to consider.

Handling Stress

Completing exercises that help you manage stress should definitely be part of your daily routine. You may not realize just how dangerous stress can be not just for your mind but for your body too. Often, issues with stress present themselves with physical symptoms. For instance, when we are stressed we can experience hair loss and gain weight even when our diet hasn’t changed. Some researchers believe that stress might be one of the main causes of certain types of cancer. So, it’s certainly beneficial to keep calm and try and relax as much as possible.

One of the ways that you can do this is through soothing exercises such as yoga. Yoga is part fitness training, part meditation. As such, it can help you handle any issues with stress and combat any forms of anxiety that you are experiencing that may be affecting your life.

Help At Hand

It is possible that you have more serious mental health issues. If that’s the case, it might be worth getting professional treatment. For instance, if you receive therapy for depression,  a therapist will help you find the cause of your feelings and that way you can tackle it together. This is a lot like working with a personal trainer to achieve a certain fitness goal. It’s the same type of situation where a trained professional can help you get to the point you want to be at. In this case, free from issues with depression.

Improving Cognitive Ability

It’s true by exercising your brain you can actually increase your level of intelligence. This has been shown in studies on Tibetan Monks. These monks spend hours every day meditating, and studies have shown that by doing this they have actually restructured their brain in useful ways. They were able to create new pathways that may actually lead to higher levels of intelligence.

So, don’t just work out your body. Your brain needs exercise too if you want it to stay fit and healthy.