12 practical ways to sharpen your mind and train your brain

The brain is the human body’s operations centre. Many things can contribute to a decline in mental performance and brain function. In order to stay sharp, it is important that you exercise your brain.  The less you use your mind, the duller it becomes.  There is a lot of emphasis these days on staying physically healthy, but you should also be concerned for your mental well-being. Your brain continues to expand and adapt to the stimuli it receives throughout your lifetime.  The more you take care of your brain, the better your thinking ability becomes.

Here are twelve ways that you can develop a training regimen for your brain!

1. Read a good book. Reading a book stimulates the imagination. Your brain cannot keep from drawing mental pictures when you read. Reading gets your mind to work. Let a book carry you away.

2. Brain training games. There are a number of brain training games that are fun and scientifically proven to stimulate and strengthen your mind.

3. Practice meditation. There are a lot of different forms of meditation. Simply put, meditation is about spending a little time alone to relax and center your thoughts. It is amazingly therapeutic.

4. Get plenty of rest. Sleeping triggers changes in the brain which help to improve memory. Sleep helps new memories to stick in the brain. This happens when connections between brain cells are strengthened by proper rest. A lack of sleep can interfere with your ability to assimilate new information. Your brain needs rest to operate at its peak performance. This may be why things always seem clearer and brighter after a good night’s sleep.

5. Exercise regularly. Cardiovascular exercise improves blood flow to the brain which improves brain function. One study found that physical exercise actually helped to increase the volume of the brain. So, if you want a bigger, better brain, then get to exercising!

6. Eat a good breakfast. Eating a good breakfast does get you off to a better start. You should eat a breakfast high in protein and good carbohydrates. Eggs are an excellent source of protein. Nuts, milk, and fresh fruit are also great ways to feed your brain.

7. Think positive thoughts. Encourage yourself. Your brain works much like a computer, garbage-in, garbage-out. Find positive, encouraging people to hang around, read material that jazzes you up, do whatever it is that makes you feel good about yourself. These things will also help you be more mentally productive.

8. Be a continual learner. Never stop being curious about your world. Seek out new experiences, skills, and knowledge. Think of something that you have always wanted to learn to do and then get started.

9. Break your routines. Mix things up a little. This perks up your brain because it requires you to think more. Take a new route to work. Try writing with your less dominant hand. You are not just running on auto-pilot.  Challenge your brain by getting out of your routines and it will respond.  This is a great way to get your mental juices flowing.

10. Work with numbers. Do math problems in your head instead of on a calculator. For many of us, it is use it or lose it. We have become mentally lazy. We rely on our gadgets instead of thinking for ourselves.  Working with and memorizing numbers is a great way to get your brain back in shape.

11. Recall old memories. Get out those old picture albums and start thumbing through them. This taps into your brains memory banks. Pictures will help you recall things that you thought you forgot. Dig deep to see just what all you remember.

12. Make beautiful music. Learning to play a musical instrument is a great way to super-charge your brain. It requires a number of different parts of your brain to work together to make the melodies that you desire. Whether you learn how to play the clarinet, take piano lessons, or learn the violin, your brain will grow. Music is a great workout for the mind.

Do you have something to add to the list? Leave your thoughts in the comment section.