Keeping Your Mind Young

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As a society, we’re all obsessed with youth, and with looking and feeling young. We use face creams to keep our skin youthful and soft. We drink water to try to keep ourselves healthy and our organs running at their best. We exercise to keep ourselves physically fit and to boost our circulation. Life seems so much easier when you are younger, and everything works properly, and we’re keen to keep it going for as long as we can. Even as early as our twenties, we’re starting to think about how to prevent wrinkles and aging.

But, we rarely worry about keeping our minds young. We assume that we’ve got decades before that’s something to worry about and fail to realize that by then it might be too late. Neurology will be able to help, but it’s much easier to make changes now that will help to keep your mind young in the future.

Use Your Opposite Hand

The best way to keep your mind young is to use it more and to use parts of it that you don’t usually. As children, we’re always learning and pushing our brains. They’re getting a workout every day. Then, as adults, we stick to what we know. Parts of our minds lay stagnant and unused, leading to decay.

An incredibly easy thing that you can do to challenge your brain in your day to day life is doing things with the opposite hand. Write with your opposite hand, hold your cutlery the other way around and try to rest your dominant hand when you can.

Try New Things

Trying new hobbies can be a fun way to keep your mind young. Every time you do something new, you are using a different part of your brain. Have a go at new hobbies, go to different places and try things that you’ve never done before.

Learn a Language

The language center of our brains is one that many of us rarely use. While you are young, you learn new words every day. Your vocabulary is constantly growing. Then as you get older, you just start to forget them. Reading, and having varied and interesting conversations can help a lot but learning a new language is the ultimate workout for that part of your brain.

Improve Your Diet

Your diet doesn’t just affect your body. It also has an impact on your mind. Eating healthy and getting all of the right vitamins and minerals can boost your brain power and those that regularly eat oily fish are less likely to develop cognitive impairment and dementia as they age.

Drink Less Alcohol

Drinking too much alcohol over a long period is one of the worst things that you can do for your mind and can lead to premature aging both mentally and physically. Try to limit drinking to a few units a week on only two or three evenings.

Avoid Loneliness

Loneliness is a crucial cause of mental health issues. Being lonely is a common problem as we age, and over time it can lead to increased risk of dementia, depression and even reduced life expectancy.

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Why Your Mental Health Is Just As Important as Your Fitness

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Overall wellness incorporates your inner and outer self, including your mental health. However, there are many who believe that exercise alone will suffice. Unfortunately, this is a myth because not looking after your mental health could have a negative long-term impact on your life spanning from developing unhealthy coping mechanisms to injury. Taking your mental health as seriously as your physical health could ensure a fulfilling and healthy quality of life

Brain Health

Your short term and long term memory depend on your mental health and it is important that you get enough stimuli to promote brain health. There are plenty of ways you can engage with your environment and exercise your different senses. These include reducing screen time, reading, completing puzzles, logical games, building furniture, etc. Equally as important is taking time to rest and relax. This allows for recovery and can improve your motivation, memory and learning and decision-making capacity.

Dealing with Challenges

As we navigate through this thing called life, we all are bound to face challenges and obstacles. The good thing is, that you are not obligated to go through difficulties alone. Having a healthy support system, whether it be family and friends or a therapist, has been shown to increase well-being, reduce anxiety, stress or even depression, and aid in forming positive coping skills.

Some of the best benefits include higher levels of well-being, better coping skills, and a longer healthier life. Having a support system has also been proven to reduce depression and anxiety and reduce stress. In order for us to thrive, we need a support system to be there for us when we are in need.

Staying Flexible

If you would like to keep yourself in the best health possible, chances are that you are on a rigorous exercise routine. Do you get stressed if you don’t hit your weight loss target or get beaten by your teammates? If this is the case, you will have to learn how to stay flexible and give yourself allowances. Befriend yourself and accept your limitations, so you can stay flexible and adjust your life to your personal needs.

Developing Helpful Coping Mechanisms

If you look after your mental health, you will be able to find ways of coping with difficult people, situations, and relationships in the most positive way. If you don’t invest in your self-help, you will find yourself making things worse and being disappointed with yourself. Today we are facing much more stress than previous generations, so you have to learn how to switch off and relax.

Preventing Psychosomatic Illnesses

Some scientists believe that there is a much closer relationship between mental and physical health than most of us believe. The idea of psychosomatic illnesses is not new in science, and you might have experienced that you are more prone to infections, mood swings, and even serious long term conditions if you are not happy with how your life is going. People who don’t sleep enough and are always stressed are more likely to become sick.

Staying Focused

If you can clear your mind sometimes through practicing meditation, or mindfulness, you can get more focused on your tasks, and even your fitness plans. Whenever you feel like you are suffering from information overload and cannot see what’s ahead of you, take a step back and try to reflect on your situation. Notice and acknowledge the negative thoughts and let them go so you can keep on working towards your personal goals.

Better Clarity of Thoughts

Once you are able to think things through and take a step back from your busy life, magical things can happen. You will be able to see your situation clearer, without the emotional charge. Whether you have to make a challenging career-related decision or are dealing with money issues, seeing clearer will always help.

 

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