Exercise does more than just keep your body fit. It also plays a crucial role in maintaining and enhancing your brain health.
Renowned researcher, Henriette van Praag, has shown that exercise can stimulate the growth of new brain cells. Her research, conducted on mice, led her to take exercise more seriously as a tool for cognitive enhancement. It’s not just about building muscles or losing weight; it’s about building a healthier, more robust brain.
Regular physical activity triggers the release of neurotransmitters like epinephrine, norepinephrine, dopamine, and serotonin, which are known to elevate mood and improve cognition.
But the benefits don’t stop there. Consistent exercise over time not only enhances cognitive test scores but also offers protection against neurodegenerative diseases.
How?
When we exercise, blood flow increases to the brain. More blood flow, more blood vessels grow. In addition, our exercised muscles release a hormone called irisin. Irisin has neuroprotective effects that can defend against conditions like Alzheimer’s and dementia.
Another key player is a protein called BDNF (Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor). Exercise increases the levels of BDNF , supporting neuron health and the formation of synapses – the junctions where nerve cells communicate. Together with more blood vessels, this could potentially offset brain volume loss associated with aging and protect against diseases like Alzheimer’s.
So what’s the lesson here?
~Move~
Exercise brings comprehensive benefits for body as well as brain health and cognitive function. So next time you’re thinking about skipping that workout, remember: you’re not just doing it for your body; you’re doing it for your brain, too!
Many of us have heard the saying “When it rains, it pours” and used it to describe misfortune in our lives.
This saying is not only negative, but also untrue.
Here’s a simple strategy to reframe the rain in our lives and see it as a temporary and manageable event, rather than a never-ending downpour.
By asking ourselves three questions: Is it true? Is it not true? Do I just not know? – we can break free from the “when it rains, it pours” mentality and find more happiness, creativity and resilience in hard times.
Mention health and cooking, and most people will think ingredients and recipes.
Nestlé Mexico has taken it further.
Cooking isn’t just about what you eat, but how you cook it.
It’s why they launched Terapia de Cocina, a groundbreaking program that transforms cooking into a transformative experience for arthritis management. This initiative, featured on Recetas Nestlé, combines the joy of cooking with physiotherapy exercises (motions people would use anyway in the course of preparing dishes,) to alleviate pain and enhance overall well-being.
This dedicated section on Recetas Nestlé, contains healthy recipes feature ingredients known for their potential to promote joint health and reduce inflammation.
Terapia de Cocina empowers individuals with arthritis to actively participate in their wellness journey while enjoying the pleasures of the kitchen.
This initiative by Nestlé Mexico is a wonderful innovation in arthritis management, an intuitive but often overlooked fusion of cooking and physiotherapy.
Things have been crazy and you need to decompress.
So, you decide to go for a walk.
Buuuuut……
Just because you go for a walk doesn’t mean that you’ll decompress. In fact, it’s possible to go for a walk and end up more mentally fatigued than when we started.
So how do we make sure that we actually decompress when going for a walk?
Pay attention to where you look.
There are two types of looking.
Humans can either look with physical eyes, or with the eyes of their minds. Which eyes we pay attention to determines whether we stay engaged with our problems or disengage from the problems of the day and decompress- unleashing the creative energies within.
That Blank Stare
We’ve all been there. We’ve got something on our minds and we’re driving or we’re walking and we’re staring at one spot in front of us. While we are doing that our Mind’s Eye is looking at a problem. It’s trying to solve it. Our mind is turning things this way and that. When this is going on, our physical eyes may well be open, but they aren’t really paying attention to what they see. That’s because out attention is focused on the projector in our minds. The environment passes by and we’re problem solving. We’re not disengaged – we’re not decompressing. Creativity suffers.
Look around!
The solution is to look everywhere. Don’t just look at the ground, blankly staring at that one spot ahead. Look at what’s around you. When you do that things begin to pop out, interesting things, novel things, things you didn’t expect. That’s because you are actually looking and exploring with your eyes. You not only disengage from the problem, your mind calms, you relax and good things happen.
Try this Experiment
It works better if you’re walking in the woods, but you can actually do it right where you are. Without closing your eyes make up a couple paragraph story about a dog and a banana. Pay attention to what your eyes do while you’re composing. You’ll find yourself looking at one specific spot typically while you’re doing this. Your eyes won’t wander. At least not a lot. You’ll probably do pretty well.
Now, try to make up a story that’s different, but make a concerted effort every second or two to glance at something else within your room or your environment. Really look at what you’re looking at.
You got much further along when you didn’t force your eyes to look all over and explore your environment didn’t you? Typically every time you change your gaze you have to revisit the story.
Observing and Problem Solving don’t Happen at the Same Time
It’s important to realize this especially when you’re doing experiments, or testing things. If we are frustrated by a certain problem or a certain situation, we can’t see a solution while we are seeing the problem in our minds. Observing time is observing time. Pay attention with all your senses. Sight, sound touch, smell, taste, your intuition.
Taking in information in this way treats the incoming information as important. Sifting through the experiences and connecting the dots is best done at a time when we’re not observing an experiment. If you want to walk through a problem and look for insights, put it out on a whiteboard, diagram it out. (You’ll actually find yourself staring at certain things on the board while you’re thinking. You’re looking but not seeing again 😉 )
But, sometimes, you just need to put some space between you and the problem. That’s a great way to free up brainpower. If that’s what you want to do, pay attention to where you’re looking.
Would love to hear what your experience is with this. Let me know your thoughts!
If you need a hand I would like to learn more about zenstorming coaching programs for creativity and problem-solving, drop me a line!
With all the emphasis on legalizing marijuana, and along with it, scores of users that claim it helps their creativity, I figured this would be an opportunity to dig into the science a little bit.
Dr. Heidi Moawad, over at Neurology Times has thankfully addressed the question recently here.
DISCLAIMER: I am NOT condoning or recommending experimentation with, or use of any drugs, legal or illegal.
Cannabis is the bomb!
Actually, it may be, in that smoking weed may mean you bomb your next brainstorming session. People who were administered low and high doses of THC were measured for their level of divergent thinking – the thinking that most people identify with being creative and coming up with wild ideas. Low doses had no effect and high doses actually resulted in lower levels of divergent thinking.
So, lighting up or getting some THC candy might not be the best solution to come up with creative solutions.
Whatabout LSD??
Sorry, this didn’t help either. Using brain imaging while under the influence of psychedelics, researchers concluded that while the drug may have been responsible for some far out experiences, the problem is that the brain has trouble with cause/effect relationships. In other words, it can’t make sense of what it’s seeing and apply it in a meaningful way. Does this mean that if a person narrates his/her trip and a non-drugged person listens, that the far out imagery of a trip might be usable for someone? (AGAIN, NOT CONDONING THIS!) Something to think about. But having said that, there are ways of creating the same effect of prompting ideas using random words and images that would probably work just as well.
Even Microdosing LSD?
There is some evidence, though it’s considered dubious, that microdosing might actually help with creativity, but only now is this becoming a topic for serious research, so the jury is still out.
Can I have a drink?
Actually, you can. There is some evidence that alcohol can help out of the box thinking. There is again, a point of diminishing returns as can be expected. But, loosening up by having a couple drinks might have some merit.
Nootropics. These are substances that enhance brain function. Sometimes they’re called smart drugs. People are already familiar with many of them, and use them, without realizing they’re using nootropics.
Caffeine, B-vitamins, Vitamin D, Turmeric, Ginseng, Ginkgo, are some of the more obvious ones. As with any substance, you can have too much of a good thing. But, there is a growing body of evidence that many of these have some merit. Research is in its early phases and there are people that use nootropics as part of their biohacking regime. I’m planning on doing an article about some of the more common ones in the future.
What’s the verdict then?
Do your research! Everyone is looking for an edge but at the end of the day, if we manage stress, eat well, exercise, maybe we’d need less of an edge. It’d be interesting to compare someone who is physically and mentally fit with someone who isn’t, but is trying to supplement with other substances. I wonder if the drugs or nootropics would give much benefit?
Until that study is done, here’s to being more creative and healthy!
It’s a great tool that enables each of us to look at problems, understand how they got there, how to fix them, and what the impact of those fixes can be. It helps us survive***. Our imaginations allow us to time travel to the past and the future. We experience images and feelings that allow us to live that which has, hasn’t, will, and/or won’t happen.
But there’s a problem.
The more adept we get at using our imaginations, our imaginations can, very often start using us. Without disciplined self-awareness, time travel gets the better of us. We find ourselves lost in the past, turning situations over and over in our heads.
“Why didn’t I do that? I should’ve done this. Where was the support? …”
The questions can flow on and on in vivid color. We replay everything and embellish it – feeling every decision in the pit of our guts. It’s real. We’re in the past.
Then there’s the scenario planning that’s gone haywire. We travel from past to future without taking a stop in the Present.
We see, smell, hear, feel, every alternate time path. We see the failures; we see the success, but then something messes it up. Again with the self-talk:
“I should’ve done this. I can’t believe he said that. How dare….”
This type of negative time travel seems to impact us the most when we are anxious and under stress. Our brains and bodies don’t know the difference though. As a result we get more anxious, our blood pressure shoots up, heart rate speeds up. Left unchecked, our productivity goes down… Our bodies are living the reality of time travel in our minds.
The solution?
Become cognizant of the fact that you’re imagining the reality – not actually living it. In short, stop time traveling and come back to the Present. Say something out-loud to yourself, “This isn’t the reality. I’m anxious (angry, upset, impatient, etc.)”
Then it’s a matter of acknowledging something positive. Be thankful for something at that moment. In essence you are interrupting and re-writing the experience from being something that happened (or will happen) to an experience in the now with positive ramifications. (There’s a great series on healing emotional memories by Joseph M. Carver, Ph.D. . Check it out!)
Our imaginations are wonderful. They dynamize our innovation and creativity and enable us to design products and services that impact the world in positive ways. The ability to time travel is key to this. Just make sure you travel with yourself and make every journey into the past and future fruitful and pleasant.
We are more than the sum of our experiences – good and bad. Don’t get sidetracked by past and future memories of the bad.
🙂
*** – “Prehistoric men and women who worried a lot were more likely to survive than their carefree, positive-thinking peers. Thinking negatively served as an early warning system. It triggered the brain to recognize actual and potential threats in the moment, and it also aided the brain in imagining dangerous scenarios that didn’t exist. If people were prepared at all times, they were more apt to survive.” – from Curious. by Todd Kashdan, Ph.D. (Quoted here)
Researchers have found that simply taking a moment to look at computer generated image of an urban green roof can restore focus and improve performance of tasks. This adds to the growing body of evidence that shows that exposure to nature has multiple cognitive, emotional and health benefits.
It doesn’t take much. In the case of this study, it took a 40 second break of looking at a computer generated greened roof top.
In short, don’t keep yourself isolated from nature. Heck, even ‘artificial’ images were beneficial, so put some pictures and plants around if you have no windows. (It can’t hurt 🙂 )
ZenStorming 