7 Surefire Tips To Double Your Brain Power!
We live in an age when the expanse and content of knowledge seems to increase exponentially on a daily basis.
The good news is that with so much Information Technology at our disposal, learning and taking in new information becomes an easier process.
And that means keeping your brain in tip-top mental (and physical!) condition
So, if you want to keep all the progress and advance of knowledge in the twenty first century at the tip of your brain cells, here are 7 sure fire tips to help keep your brain mentally charged and so boost your brain power!
1. Get Sufficient Exercise: Physical exercise is good for your brain as well as your body. Exercise increases the flow of Oxygen to your brain, helping to improve your concentration and allowing you to think clearer, sharper and faster. And the more you exercise your brain, the better it will perform and the better you will feel. You will be able to concentrate better, make decisions faster, solve problems more quickly and be more creative. And now we know that exercise also helps to promote the growth of new brain cells.
2. Get a Good Night's Sleep. Research from the University of California suggests that if you have been awake for 21 hours straight, your abilities are equivalent to someone who is legally drunk. Sleep allows your brain to process new memories, practice new skills and solve problems. So a good night's sleep is essential to boost your brain power. How many hours sleep constitutes a good night's sleep will vary between individuals, but between 6 – 8 hours sleep is normally considered to be sufficient.
3. Stay off the Carbohydrates. An excess of simple carbohydrates in your diet (such as processed flour and sugary foods) can cause your body to go through "sugar highs" and "sugar blues". And the resulting effect is bad for your brain, causing you to be irritable and inattentive. It's much better to consume in your diet complex carbohydrates, such as vegetables and legumes. These foods will supply your brain with a steady source of energy, so helping to boost your brain power.
4. Increase your intake of Omega 3 oils. Evidence as to the benefits of including omega 3 oils in the diet now seems overwhelming. Omega-3 oils, (or Omega-3 Fatty Acids) are necessary for brain health because they provide fluidity to cell membranes and improve communication between brain cells. They may help to boost learning power, but also greatly enhance mood.
5. Do a Sudoku puzzle. Sudoku puzzles have found millions of fans worldwide. They are fun to solve and are perfect for keeping your brain sharp all day long, as they help your brain to develop logic, reasoning skills and concentration.
6. Eat a bar of Chocolate. Good news for Chocolate lovers! Research evidence hints that eating milk chocolate may boost brain function, as the substances like Theobromine, Phenylethylamine and Caffeine, act as stimulants that lead to increased mental performance. In fact, phenylethylamine has been called the "love drug" because it quickens your pulse, as if you are in love!
7. Harness the power of Creative Visualization. Creative Visualization is a technique that involves the use of mental energy to transform and improve the life of the individual who uses the technique. You can use your brain's mental energy to improve your life because your imagination is incredibly powerful and, when used correctly, can enhance your life by creating what you really want. Creative visualisation can be used to accelerate learning, improve memory and motivation, and of course, improve brain power!
So, why not try and put these 7 sure fire tips into action? Boosted brain power can only be a good thing as we continue to benefit from the advances of the twenty first century!
Sunday, July 22, 2007
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
How to Improve your Brain Power
How to Increase Your Mind Power by being a Whole-brain Thinker Using the Technique of Mind Mapping
The term ‘ambidexterity’ means being adept in using both right and left hand. It is a rare inborn trait but it can be learned. The versatility displayed in the use of each hand determines a person’s ambidexterity. Michelangelo, Leonardo Vinci, Einstein, Fleming, Harry Truman, etc., were all ambidextrous. In modern times, you will find many, who were originally left-handed but in the course of their childhood, were drilled to acquire right-handed habits (at school or home) and thus became ambidextrous.
Along the same lines, we could say we are being ambidextrous when we are multi-tasking – talking over the phone and taking notes or riding a bike, etc. The difference being that instead of our hands, we are using both our right and left hemispheres to successfully juggle our tasks. We have all heard about some people being ‘right-brained’ or ‘left-brained’. In essence it means that the person displays more ‘right’ or ‘left’ oriented skills, although we are all the time integrating both hemispheres in our daily activities.
‘Right’ brain qualities involve imagination, risk taking, artistic abilities, highly philosophical, creative, etc. ‘Left’ brain people, on the other hand, are practical, conformist, seek order, have good comprehension skills, etc. Thus ‘right-brain’ people are said to think subjectively, holistically and have strong intuition, while ‘left-brain’ people tend to be more logical, analytical and highly rational. It is found that more often, left-brain thinkers are engineers and scientists, while right-brain thinkers end up being artists and poets.
How and why is it that some people are more adept at certain kind of thought patterns than others? The fact is that while we may inherit certain mental traits and capacities, how we use our mind is what determines our mental prowess. As children we are innately right-brained, displaying great creativity, imagination, spontaneity, open-mindedness and enthusiasm but ironically, as we grow, social, cultural and racial influences constrain these natural traits.
The most comforting thought however is that we can greatly improve our mental abilities by choosing to change our thoughts and applying our mind in a particular direction. Thus if a person is a known conformist, who always walks down the beaten path, he could deliberately try new things, learn to take risks and think imaginatively.
When we combine the power of the two hemispheres, we will be working at our full potential. Ambidextrous mind or whole brain thinking - as it is also known - enhances our brain functions and injects a heightened level of awareness. To foster an ambidextrous mindset, we can work on right-brain learning activities by including patterning, metaphors, analogies, role-playing, visuals, and movement into reading, calculation, and analytical activities. Conscious effort to incorporate left and right brain activities, human consciousness studies, reflective thinking and meditation are excellent means to achieve an ambidextrous mind.
One easy technique that helps in such whole-brain thinking process is Mind Mapping. It aligns the mind to the diffusion of thought and paves way for streaming thoughts and associations. Association essentially is finding the links in logic and ideas, and when these are explored in full, it leads to insight, imagination and creativity.
If we look at great discoveries, we will find the application or association of principle (s) to another. Pertinently, colors, pictures, symbols, etc., highly enhance our learning process as they invoke vividness, clarity of perception and easy dissemination. Mind Mapping technique employs all these aspects and therein lays its power and dynamism. When learning and understanding is done using the Mind Map technique, it naturally becomes a highly effective and powerful way of gaining knowledge. It sure is an ideal way for fostering an ambidextrous or whole brain thinking culture.
The term ‘ambidexterity’ means being adept in using both right and left hand. It is a rare inborn trait but it can be learned. The versatility displayed in the use of each hand determines a person’s ambidexterity. Michelangelo, Leonardo Vinci, Einstein, Fleming, Harry Truman, etc., were all ambidextrous. In modern times, you will find many, who were originally left-handed but in the course of their childhood, were drilled to acquire right-handed habits (at school or home) and thus became ambidextrous.
Along the same lines, we could say we are being ambidextrous when we are multi-tasking – talking over the phone and taking notes or riding a bike, etc. The difference being that instead of our hands, we are using both our right and left hemispheres to successfully juggle our tasks. We have all heard about some people being ‘right-brained’ or ‘left-brained’. In essence it means that the person displays more ‘right’ or ‘left’ oriented skills, although we are all the time integrating both hemispheres in our daily activities.
‘Right’ brain qualities involve imagination, risk taking, artistic abilities, highly philosophical, creative, etc. ‘Left’ brain people, on the other hand, are practical, conformist, seek order, have good comprehension skills, etc. Thus ‘right-brain’ people are said to think subjectively, holistically and have strong intuition, while ‘left-brain’ people tend to be more logical, analytical and highly rational. It is found that more often, left-brain thinkers are engineers and scientists, while right-brain thinkers end up being artists and poets.
How and why is it that some people are more adept at certain kind of thought patterns than others? The fact is that while we may inherit certain mental traits and capacities, how we use our mind is what determines our mental prowess. As children we are innately right-brained, displaying great creativity, imagination, spontaneity, open-mindedness and enthusiasm but ironically, as we grow, social, cultural and racial influences constrain these natural traits.
The most comforting thought however is that we can greatly improve our mental abilities by choosing to change our thoughts and applying our mind in a particular direction. Thus if a person is a known conformist, who always walks down the beaten path, he could deliberately try new things, learn to take risks and think imaginatively.
When we combine the power of the two hemispheres, we will be working at our full potential. Ambidextrous mind or whole brain thinking - as it is also known - enhances our brain functions and injects a heightened level of awareness. To foster an ambidextrous mindset, we can work on right-brain learning activities by including patterning, metaphors, analogies, role-playing, visuals, and movement into reading, calculation, and analytical activities. Conscious effort to incorporate left and right brain activities, human consciousness studies, reflective thinking and meditation are excellent means to achieve an ambidextrous mind.
One easy technique that helps in such whole-brain thinking process is Mind Mapping. It aligns the mind to the diffusion of thought and paves way for streaming thoughts and associations. Association essentially is finding the links in logic and ideas, and when these are explored in full, it leads to insight, imagination and creativity.
If we look at great discoveries, we will find the application or association of principle (s) to another. Pertinently, colors, pictures, symbols, etc., highly enhance our learning process as they invoke vividness, clarity of perception and easy dissemination. Mind Mapping technique employs all these aspects and therein lays its power and dynamism. When learning and understanding is done using the Mind Map technique, it naturally becomes a highly effective and powerful way of gaining knowledge. It sure is an ideal way for fostering an ambidextrous or whole brain thinking culture.
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