8 Optimal Ways to Exercise Your Brain

To make 2015 your best year yet, give a little attention to that amazing supercomputer located inside your head. To achieve all that you want to accomplish, you must maintain a healthy brain.

Below are eight tips to maximize your brain power.

In their 2010 book, How God Changes Your Brain, Dr. Andrew Newberg and co-author Mark Robert Waldman explained that the following activities can help your brain function better as well as transform your inner reality, your perception of the world and how you operate in it.

1. Believing.

The #1 best way to exercise your brain is to develop faith, according to Newberg and Waldman. Faith correlates with hope, optimism and the belief that a positive future awaits.

A Mayo Clinic study in 2002 concluded that a person’s outlook may not only help with longevity but also could have an impact on quality of life. Faith is therefore essential to maintaining a healthy brain.

2. Conversing with other people.

According to Newberg and Waldman, without your exercising your language skills, large portions of you brain won’t effectively interconnect with other neural structures.

Talking with others requires interaction. The more social connections people have, the less their cognitive abilities will decline. But just small talk won’t cut it because it does not adequately engage the brain; only deeper conversations do the trick. The authors suggests talking about abstract ideals like harmony and peace.

3. Vigorously exercising.

Every part of the brain is strengthened by rigorous physical exercise. The more intense the exercise, the better it is for your brain. This improves cognition, boosts immune function and reduces anxiety.

4. Engaging in reflection.

According to Newberg and Waldman, “if you stay in a contemplative state for twenty minutes to an hour, your experiences will tend to feel more real, affecting your nervous system in ways that enhance physical and emotional health.”

5. Yawning.

Believe it or not, yawning is good for you. According to Newberg and Waldman, yawning increases mental efficiency. Yawning relaxes you, but it also quickly brings you into a heightened state of cognitive awareness. It helps to rid the brain of sleepiness, thus helping you to stay focused on important concepts and ideas.

The authors suggests yawning as many times a day as possible: upon waking up, confronting a difficult problem or preparing for sleep and when feeling anger, anxiety or stress.

6. Deliberately relaxing.

This type of relaxation is not just about taking a nap. The authors mean “deliberately scanning each part of your body to reduce muscle tension and physical fatigue.” Relaxation relieves body tension and temporarily halts the circulation of stress-associated chemicals in the brain.

7. Keeping mentally alert.

Remaining intellectually active strengthens the connections in the frontal lobe. This is the part of your brain that helps you stay focused, make plans, control impulses and make good decisions. Try to be engaged in many intellectually challenging activities such as reading, participating in a class, playing chess, doing crossword puzzles or learning a new language.

8. Smiling.

The mere act of smiling repetitively strengthens the brain’s neural ability to maintain a positive outlook on life, according to Newberg and Waldman.

“Smiling stimulates brain circuits that enhance social interaction,” the authors wrote. The activity is so powerful that if you just see a picture of a smiling face, you will involuntarily feel happier and more secure.”