7 Habits for Good Brain Health

Maintaining good brain health is key to a long and healthy life. Theories about what brain health looks like and how to achieve it abound, but there are some straightforward ideas about how to keep your mind sharp and well cared for that don’t depend on those theories. Here are seven habits to implement in your life that will help you keep your brain healthy.

1. Stay Well Rested

Your entire body needs rest, including your brain. Whether you’re a night owl or a morning person, getting plenty of sleep is essential for your whole body. While your other organs slow down during sleep and your body goes into “rest mode,” your brain does not shut off. While you sleep, you dream, you heal, and you prepare. Adults need between 7-9 hours of sleep a night to gain the full benefits of sleep so that they can perform their best each day.

Did you know that sleep issues can be addressed in therapy? You can search your area to find a therapist near you, then filter your results by Common Specialty > All other issues > Sleep Disorders.

2. Stay Active

An active lifestyle is also key to good brain health. Staying active helps your brain produce the hormones it needs to fuel the rest of your body. Physical activity encourages your body to produce hormones that promote brain health and improve your mood. While you do not need to exercise constantly to achieve good brain health, many experts recommend including exercise in your daily routine to increase blood flow and keep you healthy.

3. Pay Attention to Your Body

Your body will give you signals if your brain health is not quite right. This could include symptoms of vitamin deficiency. For example, if you feel foggy and tired during the winter months, you might have low vitamin D levels. Talking to your doctor about these symptoms can help you get what you need to achieve a healthy mind and body.

4. Stay Hydrated

Our bodies need water to function. When we are dehydrated, our brains are not at their best. According to a 2018 study from Georgia Tech, cognitive functioning decreases with dehydration, with noticeable effects within as little as two hours. Be intentional about your water consumption will promote brain health and support the rest of your body, too. 

5. Find Balance

The concept of work-life balance is something we’ve all heard of. Still, sometimes we forget that healthy balance in our lives could look very different depending on our circumstances. Figuring out what balance looks like for you right now, and being curious and adaptive about changes that need to be made down the line, can help you flourish. Be mindful of all the aspects of your life that need to be in balance (it’s not all about work and home – rest, friends, self-care, a hobby, spirituality, the outdoors can all be pieces of the pie as well). By appropriately devoting time and attention to what you value, you can relieve stress and allow your brain to engage with the world in a multitude of ways. 

6. Stimulate Your Brain

Your brain needs exercise just like the rest of your body. Brain games, puzzles, critical thinking, learning new things, hobbies, memorization, brain training, and reading can all function as brain exercises.

7. Care for Your Mental Health

Mental health is vital for keeping our brains healthy. If you have symptoms of depression or anxiety, or if you feel you cannot slow your brain down, we advise you to talk to a mental health professional. A mental health professional can guide you in developing skills and strategies to help you achieve a healthy mind.

Start your search for the right-fit psychotherapist today!

We all have busy schedules that can sometimes make self-care and stress management challenging. Many of us understand the importance of a daily 30-minute fitness regimen, meditation practice, or yoga class for our overall well-being. So are we out of luck when we don’t have 30 minutes in the day for a stress-buster? Are we doomed to be flooded by stress hormones all day long? Absolutely not. There is plenty we can do with only minutes in the day to de-stress.

Mini-mental health workouts can be the answer on these hectic days. Additionally, these exercises can be used to complement your other self-care practices to create even more stress management benefits. These mini-mental health breaks are fun and will help reduce stress hormones while leaving you feeling replenished and energized.

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While mini-mental health workouts can go a long way toward managing mood and decreasing stress levels, they should not replace more substantive self-care practices such as cardio workouts or yoga classes. Here are a few exercises anyone can easily incorporate into their daily activity to help de-stress and feel good:

1. Strike a pose: That’s right, do your best Wonder Woman or Superman pose with arms fixed on your hips and legs shoulder width apart for 2 minutes. Alternatively, celebrate like you just climbed Mount Everest, with hands raised above your head in a “V.” These are only a few of the power poses studied in 2010 by Amy Cuddy, social psychologist and professor at Harvard Business School. According to her research, 2 minutes is all you need to change your body chemistry to promote confidence while decreasing cortisol (stress hormone) levels. These simple poses can brighten your mood and reduce your anxiety in short order.
2. Pictures of nature: Don’t have time to go for a walk outside? Then try this trick for your brain, mind, and body. All you have to do is spend at least 5 minutes looking at snapshots of nature and greenery to potentially see a change in your stress levels. This powerhouse mini-mental break mobilizes the calming parasympathetic nervous system and may produce a relaxation response, leaving you feeling refreshed (van den Berg, et. al., 2015).
   These five simple and fast tools weaved into your routine may help increase your productivity while minimizing the energy-depleting effects of stress.
3. Listen to a song: Have a list of “feel-good songs” you can play when low on energy or feeling stressed. Rock it out for a couple of minutes when you need to. If you have some privacy, consider pairing your feel-good song with a dance party, your best air guitar, or air drumming for increased physical movement which will allow for the release of the feel-good chemical dopamine. The movement combined with the music packs an extra punch.
4. Simulated or genuine laughter: Laugh it up for a couple of minutes. Try watching a funny video clip or a scene from one of your favorite comedies. Laughter is often said to be the best medicine, and there is plenty of science to back that up. Since the 1980s, Dr. Lee S. Berk, a researcher at Loma Linda University, has found laughter has amazing benefits. She discovered laughter can mobilize the relaxation response in the body by decreasing stress hormones and stimulating the release of feel-good endorphins. If you can’t think of anything to help create a laugh, don’t worry—a simulated belly laugh can be just as powerful, with the same potential yield.
5. Deep breathing/diaphragmatic breathing: Taking deep, rhythmic breaths is one of the most powerful ways to put the brakes on the sympathetic nervous system and stimulate a relaxation response. This means taking in breaths through your nose to the count of five and then holding for five seconds before exhaling through pursed lips to another count of five (select a breath count that is comfortable for you) can have immediate positive effects. Many meditation practitioners and behavioral health experts believe deep breathing is one of the most powerful weapons in combating stress.

So next time you have to skip your cardio boot camp class, don’t fret—you still have options for stress management. By implementing these mini-mental health workouts into your day, you may be better able to manage your stress and mood. These five simple and fast tools weaved into your routine may help increase your productivity while minimizing the energy-depleting effects of stress.

All you need is 120 to 300 seconds throughout the day to employ these tools. Anyone can do that!

References:

1. Carney, D. R., Cuddy, A. J.C., & Yap, A. J. (2010). Power posing: Brief nonverbal displays affect neuroendocrine levels and risk tolerance. Psychological Science, 21(10), 1363-1368. doi:1177/0956797610383437
2. van den Berg, M. M. H. E., Maas, J., Muller, R., Braun, A., Kaandorp, W., van Lien, R., van Poppel, M. N. M., van Mechelen, W., & van den Berg, A. E. (2015). Autonomic nervous system responses to viewing green and built settings: Differentiating between sympathetic and parasympathetic activity. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 12(12), 15860-15874. doi: 3390/ijerph121215026