Posts tagged Muscles
Nurturing Nature – Are Your Brain Cells Hungering for a Workout?
Dec 20th
Scientist believe there are over one-hundred billion neurons inside our head. Some scientists believe that neurons are not limited to the brain but are found in the heart as well. Where they are located is not so important as what they do. Bottom line, they transmit information within the brain. Information of all kinds and they can be enlarged and changed, that process is called neuroplasticity.
So what your say? Well, for those who are interested in doing better at whatever they do, here is a way to do just that. Grow your brain in the places you would like. Just as an example; London scientist have discovered that those London cab drivers that have such a wonderful memory of locations and directions have an unusually large Hippocampus, the portion of the brain that stores long-term memories. Why would the size be different?
The brain, like your muscles, responds to exercise. Just like your biceps, which get larger when you curl 40 lb. weights everyday, your Hippocampus, the organ responsible for long-term memory, will enlarge when it is asked to remember more and more locations everyday. The London cab drivers were not born with this ability to remember they developed it by daily workout.
Hundreds of thousands of neurons atrophy and die everyday for lack of use. They also die from alcohol consumption, blows to the head or just plain getting old. We now know that learning new things creates new neurons and revitalizes old and dying ones. So you are in control.
You own your brain and it is available for use, by you, 24/7, at no charge. Whether you are casually interested in “brain health’” or a “brain health” nut, here are 5 things you can do to promote a healthy, growing brain.
- Stay away from alcohol
- Read more
- Do daily thinking exercises, like the Crossword puzzle or Sod0ku
- Eat brain foods like broccoli and all those other veggies you never liked
- Learn new skills that require concentration.
These are, of course, a limited list of activities you can do to build powerful, healthy brain. For more information on Brain Health contact us.
A Personal Challenge
Nov 12th
It’s a small exaggeration to say that there were points when we thought one of us was going to die, or at best, we were going to drive each other crazy.
By the time we got to our destination we were out of water, the heat had skyrocketed to over 100 degrees, the flies were as big as small dogs, and the mosquitoes swarmed in cloud-like unison. To make matters worse, we had to turn around and go back 4-5 hours journey to have any hope at cooling off the next day. This is not a “fun hike” as we thought it would be.
It could be said that first trip was an absolute disaster. It was horrible.
We are planning to do it again in just a few weeks.
WHY?
If for no other reason, because it’s fun. Seriously. I think there is something enjoyable in pushing yourself to the limits. And we discovered quite a bit about our limits – physically, mentally, emotionally, and socially. We learned a lot during that disastrous little adventure. There are a ton of reasons to give it a try again – reasons most of us should find in our life.
Reason 1 – first, a little bit of research and psycho-babble jargon to make you think – to stretch your cognitive abilities, if you will. Why? Because research says it is important to stretch and exercise your brain just like you stretch and exercise your muscles (you ARE stretching and exercising your muscles, aren’t you?)
When we are born, our brain starts out as a flexible, malleable mass of neurons sitting atop our spinal cord – our job is to fill it full of knowledge. This is easier to due in our earlier years – brain cells fire quicker, faster, better when we are younger. As we age, our brain loses it’s plasticity; our intelligence becomes more “crystallized” – that’s why our thinking becomes more rigid, and our memory becomes more difficult to remember, the older we become.
One way to fight this – to stay nimble of memory, and quick of wit – is to constantly challenge yourself in your daily living. We do that by constantly trying to learn new things, – read, research, discover. Engaging in activities – trying new foods – exploring different opportunities in life – all are great opportunities to stretch your brain and work to maintain that plasticity throughout your life.
Reason 2 – Whatever doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger – and in our world where there isn’t much that can kill you, it’s healthy to step outside your comfort zone and make an attempt to push yourself. Our caveman brothers and sisters had to fear for their lives every time they stepped outside their cave; that helped them to evolve into what we are today. They had to grow stronger, faster, and smarter to survive – we don’t have the same environmental forces pushing us, so it’s helpful to push ourselves to grow smarter, faster, and stronger in all aspects of our life.
Reason 3 – Failure is good for you (as long as it doesn’t kill you – see #2) – some of my greatest revelations in life have come only as a result of attempting to do something great, and failing miserably. There once was a time where those miserable defeats would shut me down for quite a while – they still sting, but I have learned to assess the problem and move on from it – to grow from it and try again. This has been one of the most valuable life lessons I have learned, and it came with quite a cost, a cost that was well worth it.
So now I want to challenge you – I’ve listed three reasons why you should challenge yourself, what will you do with it? Is there a challenge or a goal you’ve been thinking about undertaking? Is now the time? Take a moment to journal about it. Writing it down makes you accountable to yourself when you write it down, it allows others to help you to be accountable to your goal when you share it.
My goal – I’m going to hike 20+ miles through the North Country Scenic Trail, and not just survive it this time, but ENJOY it.
What’s your goal this week, this month, this year, or this lifetime?
