LGR Holistic Wellness

It doesn’t matter how old you are – it’s never too late to increase your brain and memory power. To build memory power, your brain needs to be healthy. For your brain to be healthy, you have to exercise, feed, and protect it. As we get older, we tend to lose our mental sharpness so it’s even more important that we actively take steps to protect against that.

However, you can absolutely teach an old dog new tricks. The brain is astonishing. Even as we grow older, the brain can adapt and change. This is true, too, of memory and learning. So, let’s dive into how you can increase your brain and memory power.

Mental Exercise

By the time you hit adulthood, your brain has millions of neural pathways. These pathways help you retain, process, and recall information. They help you tackle habitual tasks and solve problems with little effort. Sounds great, right?

Here’s the thing. If you continue walking the same neural pathways, then your brain isn’t being stimulated to grow and develop. Your brain needs you to shake things up! If you don’t use your memory, then you’re going to lose it. So, the more you exercise your brain, the better your memory will be.

The best options include breaking your habits and challenging them. Choose activities that teach you something new, that challenge you, that you can build on, and that you find rewarding.

Physical Exercise

Just as mental exercise is crucial for the health of your brain, so is physical exercise. Break a sweat!

If you’re looking for activities to boost your brain, then aerobics is an excellent choice. Ultimately, an exercise that’s good for your heart is going to benefit your brain.

Sleep Well

Some people love to brag about how little sleep they need to function. They think it makes them edgy or cool. It doesn’t. In reality, it makes them less effective, less productive, and less smart. Literally. Your brain requires sleep. While you sleep, your brain is downloading memories, healing, and powering up for the following day. You should be aiming for an absolute minimum of seven hours every night, and more is better.

If sleep is something that you struggle with, you’re not alone! What you need is a healthy sleep routine. The hour before bedtime should be wind-down time. Turn the television off, put your gadgets away, and pick up a book or take a bath. You’d also do well to avoid caffeine after 2 pm.

Social Ties

Loneliness is deeply damaging to your brain, so reach out to your friends and spend as much time with them as possible. As cliche as live, laugh, love is, it’s good advice. Having a pet is a great way to bolster your existing social ties and to make new ones.

Stress Management

Chronic stress will kill your brain cells. Learn to manage your stress levels. Meditation and yoga are a great place to start.

Diet

Like your body, your brain requires fuel to operate. Choose fresh fruits, vegetables, lean protein, whole grains, and healthy fat. Make sure you get plenty of omega 3 fatty acids, that’s true brain food.

In Summary

How do you expect to remember something you haven’t learned? Start paying attention to the world and information around you. Engage your senses as often as possible. Mealtime is an excellent time to practice this – smell your food, hear the satisfaction of others and yourself, feast on it with your eyes, enjoy the different textures and tastes of your meal.

Try to relate new information to existing information you possess. It will make it easier to remember. When you learn something new, review it later that day and again in the days following. It will help you retain information.