How To Keep Your Mind Sharp At Home

Most of us have been staying at home for quite a while. We are forced to be confined in our homes to help eliminate the spread of the coronavirus.  Daily routines have changed and are now limited to the confines of your house. But this should not stop you from keeping your body and mind healthy. 

To stay physically fit, all you have to do is exercise. So how about your brain? Here are some tips on how you can keep your mind sharp even at home.

Exercising Is Not Just For Your Body

The body and the mind are connected in more ways than we know of. 

According to a research conducted at New Mexico Highlands University, when pressure waves are sent to the arteries, it increases the blood flow, which helps improve your memory and cognitive skills. 

So how do you send pressure waves? Do physical exercises. 

It doesn’t have to be complicated. Simply walking can help keep your mind healthy. Find an exercise routine that suits you and make it a point that you do it every day.

Stimulate The Brain Through Reading

In order to keep your brain sharp, you need to do activities that stimulate the brain. The best brain stimulant is by reading. 

According to a study, regular reading reduces the rate of memory loss by 32%. Back then, you couldn’t find the time to read as you are too preoccupied with all the things happening in college. Nowadays, things are different as you have all the time in the world to do some reading. So, go and read your textbook, or get your favorite literature and read a few pages every day to help keep your mind stimulated.

Maintain Proper Posture

Blood circulation plays a huge factor in brain activity. The better the blood circulation, the healthier the brain is. This is why you need to do things that would help you have proper circulation, and having a good posture is one of them. 

One thing you can readily try is yoga. There are many yoga videos online that you can check out. For sure you will find one that will suit you. Since yoga focuses on self-body awareness, you will easily notice if you are slouching, and correct your posture right away.

Get Some Proper Snooze Time

Did you know that getting enough sleep can improve not only your memory but also your focus and cognitive functions? 

During sleep, memories and newly learned abilities are moved to the more permanent part of your brain, making it easier for you to recall them. 

Failed to get your target score for an exam? You can simply study more for the next one to compensate for your missed points. But for sleep, it does not work like that. 

Lack of sleep causes irreversible brain cell loss. Hene, it is very important for you to have a consistent snooze time.

Get Musical

This is not about making your days like an episode from Glee. 

Go sing, play an instrument, or listen to your favorite playlist because it improves your memory. 

Have you heard about the Last Song Syndrome or LSS? That is the reason why songs or certain tunes can easily get stuck in your head. 

Listening to songs is considered a total brain workout and helps improve mental alertness and memory.

Play Board Games

Board games are fun and an interactive way to help stimulate your brain. It triggers brain areas that are responsible for memory formation and complex thought processes. It helps improve your decision-making skills, problem-solving and strategic thinking. It is also a nice way to interact with your family as you can do this activity together.

Have A Healthy Diet

Your food intake also affects how your brain performs. There are foods that can help keep your brain healthy and improve specific mental tasks such as your ability to concentrate and memory. 

Try including fish and broccoli into your diet. Fish is a good source of omega-three fatty acids, which is good for the brain. 

On the other hand, broccoli is very high in vitamin K, which is essential in forming sphingolipids. This is a kind of fat densely situated in the brain. There are many foods that can keep your brain healthy, so as much as possible, try and incorporate it in your daily diet.

Staying in our homes is not an excuse to not take care of ourselves. This situation we are in right now is just temporary. Sooner or later, things would start to pick up again, and when that time comes, your brain is fit enough to take on the challenge.