If I ask you to tell me about your weekly workout schedule, some may describe when they are doing sprints, squats, bench presses, or curls. However, what their schedule lacks is when they are exercising their brain. The most important muscle is the command center of the human body.
Who reading this wants to improve memory, increase sleep efficiency, boost concentration and energy, reduce the symptoms of anxiety, depression, and ADHD, or increase their ability at critical thinking, problem-solving, and rapid decision-making? Who wants to build cognitive dominance to withstand the environmental variables surrounding them that impact their brain health?
The evidence-based cognitive exercises I will share in this article are powerful tools to enhance memory, concentration, and cognitive abilities. These exercises are backed by research. By incorporating these exercises into your routine, you’re taking a self-reliant approach to brain health. I’ll also introduce you to mobile applications and resources that have been proven effective in strengthening cognition.
First and foremost, you can do a few things right now, using items you may already have in your home, to start improving your brain health.
Daily Exercise. The CDC has found that cognitive decline is twice as high in those who do not exercise compared to those who do. So, how does exercise improve brain functioning? When exercising, there is a significant increase in neurotransmitters and hormones that maintain and repair brain cells.
Mindfulness and Meditation. Mindful meditation is a powerful technique to enhance focus, calmness, and happiness. It also has a direct impact on brain functioning. In a 2019 study, researchers found that mindfulness decreases inflammatory markers in the brain, which can otherwise impair brain functioning and damage brain cells. A 2020 study further revealed that daily mindfulness can lead to brain growth, highlighting the long-term benefits of this practice.
Learn a new activity and teach someone an activity. This process increases neuron firing in the frontal lobes and improves critical thinking and memory storage.
Learn to do Tai Chai. This only requires you to look up a Tai Chai instructional video on YouTube. Research demonstrates that Tai Chai not only relaxes your mind and helps treat mental health difficulties, but the movements and memory requirements exercise the brain to improve cognition.
Reflective Journaling. Not only is there evidence-based data to support reflective journaling as a cognitive exercise, but I have personally seen its benefits. When I struggled to recover from my traumatic brain injuries, I began to research self-care methods I could apply in addition to what the providers were doing in treating my brain injuries. After a few months of reading research, making sense of it, and writing about it, I noticed my memory improved.
Now, here are some mobile applications and programs that are evidence-based and proven to strengthen your cognition.
Dual N-Back. Peer-reviewed studies have demonstrated that the Dual N-Back mobile application improves working memory and fluid intelligence, which refers to the ability to reason and solve new problems. This app isn’t easy and may frustrate you in the beginning.
Brain HQ. The Brain HQ website describes its app as a personal gym for the brain, where you exercise your memory, attention, brain speed, people skills, intelligence, and navigation instead of your abs, delts, and quads.
A few others with free and paid features are Lumosity, Elevate, CogniFit, Peak, and Clockwork Brain Training.
I challenge you to plan for and schedule a daily cognitive exercise. Everyone can benefit from improved cognitive and mental health; you can find this improvement through the activities shared in this article. Prioritize cognitive exercises like food and water; make them a necessity and priority in your life, and you will see the benefits.
You can learn more about this topic by reading my self-care Book titled Self-Health Andragogy: A Self-Directed Learning Approach to Mental and Physical Self-Care.