Every Day Brain Health: Engage Your Senses

There is one easy thing you can do every day to help build your brain’s reserve and open up new pathways.  As a bonus, this one simple thing will help you think about and experience the world in a fuller, richer, more engaged manner while firing up the chemical and electrical qualities that keep your brain pumping.

Tune into your senses.

We know that heightened sensory experiences light up areas in your brain. *  So, when you bite into an apple and you feel the resistances as your teeth break through the skin, hear the crunch, and taste / smell the sweet/tart flavors and aromas of the fall harvest, you are firing up the activity in your brain in a different way.  The process of triggering those brain regions bathes them with good chemicals and activates electrical connections that keep those pathways – those direct routes to experiencing the world – open, nourished, and ready for action.

Sensory information lighting up the brain!

Did you know that you can get that same result by thinking about a sensory experience or reading about a sensory experience?   That description of biting into an apple – as you, in your mind’s eye, see, feel, hear, taste, and smell the process — set in motion the process of nourishing your brain with the same kinds of good activity as actually participating. *

Think about this….  You can take a moment in your life and imagine everything you might see, hear, taste, feel, and smell.  Heighten that experience, taking information from your sensory life, and light up your brain.

Take this moment, right now, and examine it through your senses.   Yes, you are looking at a screen of some kind reading words.  As you are thinking about the moment, tune in to what else is happening.  Take a moment and turn up your senses.

Be very careful, though… you may trigger something even more powerful.   Experiencing your life more fuller could lead to increased enjoyment, amplified pleasure, and a deeper appreciation for the moment.

 

From the brain geek’s corner:

*This chapter in NIH supported research The Neural Basis of Multisensory Processes introduces methods (fMRI and BOLD) for measuring brain activity and the data to support.

*Harvard is working with MEG as a way to measure brain activity and this study deals with heightened sensory data.

*Here is the foundational research on rewiring your brain – actual neuro-regeneration – through sensory experience.

My Gracefully Aging Brain

Practicing What I Preach and How a Swag Bag Helped Boost My Self-Esteem

Fact of aging:  overall health and well-being is, like it or not, partially driven by how we feel about what we see when we look in the mirror.   Some days it does not matter how quickly I think on my feet, that I am a better problem solver now than I ever was, or that others find what I have to say interesting and intelligent.   What matters are the lines on the sides of my smile, the droop around my eyes, the overall tension of my skin, my not as thick as it used to be hair, and my not so bright and shiny teeth.

A little background for the transformation process…  Three weeks ago I went to a huge women’s blogger conference, BlogHer, in Chicago.   I am not primarily a blogger and my posts are always on a “brainy” mission so I almost passed because I believed I really would not fit.   My friends at BOOMBox Network, however, offered me an opportunity to not just sponsor a party on the last night, the B(L)oomer’s Party,  but to also try out a concept that I have been working on – bringing interactive brain games to brand promotion through a combination of online and “In Real Life” activities all in a party atmosphere.   I just could not resist.

So… I committed to going to the conference, prepped, read up on the protocol, finalized the details for the party game, and, like a good little sponsor, started promoting.

Two conference notes….

The conference, from my “brainy” perspective, was more than I hoped not because of what I learned (although I did learn some new, invaluable things) but because I stepped outside my comfort zone and made deep human connections with people who enhance my life and make me feel (and therefore think) better.    I laughed (until I cried) with this group of like-minded, passionately positive women who share my mission for thriving as we age — with our minds, dignity, and destiny in our control.   (See the bottom of this post for links to some of their blogs.)

Second, the “game” was a total success — all of the numbers point to, “Brand Engagement with a capital E”.   Trying new things in business and, again, stepping outside of my comfort zone to try something untested, in a public arena, helps me nourish my brain in so many ways.

So even before I got home and I opened my swag bag from the B(l)oomer’s Party, my confidence and self-esteem were on the rise.   I guess I got these products free so I probably should disclose that fact.   I might not have tried any of them if someone had not given them to me but they did and I am glad.

Three weeks later a couple things stand out.

First, I have hair or at least what feels and looks like thicker hair.   Biota Botanicals shampoo is awesome.    I love that, for the first time in 26 years, I don’t look like I have 3 strands of hair plastered to my head!   Nice!

Second the lines around the side of my mouth are almost gone, the skin around my eyes is not sagging as much, and overall my complexion is brighter and tighter.   No kidding…. I used a combination of things from my magic swag bag but here are the main pieces of the puzzle.  I used Murad Renewing Eye Cream at night and ROC MultiCorrection 5in1 Daily Moisturizer both in the morning and at night.   Even though my life has been quite intense the past 3 weeks, I look less tired and that makes a huge difference in how easy it is to push forward!

Third, my teeth have not aged as well as the rest of my body.   I was excited to see a 99% natural toothpaste in the bag that promised to “strengthen and whiten”.  I might have tried this product in the store had I seen it because of its wonderful, unassuming name (“hello”) and the fact it says it was “made in the friendly USA” by Hello Products.   Bonus – it works, it tastes great, and it makes me smile every time I pick up the container and it says “hello”!

My 3-week self-promotion through swag project was pretty successful!

The following are links to the writings of some of passionately positive and positively inspiring women I met in Chicago.

Midlife at the Oasis
Grandma’s Briefs
Books is Wonderful
The New Elizabeth
Connie McLeod
An Empowered Spirit
Patricia Patton
First Class Woman
Reason Creek
The Succulent Wife
In the Powder Room (Janie Emaus)
Apart From My Art
Chloe of the Mountain
Carpool Goddess
…and some powerful resources for a better life
RTime (PK Fields)
Ellen Dolgen
…and sooo many more that I will remember and update later!

You may find a huge collection of these voices at www.generationfabulous.com

Weekly Brain Challenge: Find the Difference Mega-Challenge

 

This week’s puzzle is really tough for a couple reasons.
First, there are 9 changes – more than usual.
Second, it is more difficult to find changes in words. Your brain has a version of auto-correct that allows you to look beyond some spelling errors. You will need to overcome your internal auto-correct to find all the differences!

Find 9 differences! Ready…? GO!