Your brain is one of the few organs in your body involved in everything you do. And like any other organ, it also changes as you age. It means your mental and cognitive functions also get affected with age. Cognitive functions are the skills that determine your brain’s ability to think, learn, and remember. They all work together to process information and are one of the many aspects that control overall brain health.

Your daily activities play a significant role in sharpening your cognitive skills and keeping your brain engaged. But not every activity will enhance your cognitive potential. After some time, your brain becomes habitual of these activities and doesn’t use many muscles to complete these tasks. In such cases, you’ll have to identify new ways to challenge your brain. The following activities will go a long way to boost your brain function and enhance your cognitive potential.

1. Reduce Chronic Stress

Stress is the ability of the brain and body to respond to a demand. You’ll experience stress from time to time in your daily life. But, while short-term stress acts as a motivation and compels you to take action, a long-term feeling of pressure can negatively affect your mental health. This prolonged and consistent stress can affect your memory and experience sleeplessness and irritability.

When experiencing stress, your body produces a stress hormone called cortisol. It is responsible for providing substances that repair tissues during stress. But during chronic stress, cortisol is produced in high levels, impairing brain functions and changing its structure.    

As stress is a natural event of your life, you’ll need to take steps to manage it.

Once your body shows signs of stress, such as tiredness, tense muscles, and headaches, take practical ways to mitigate them. Identify the leading cause of the stress and take small measures to eradicate stress.

Make sure your environment is filled with stress-relieving factors. Natural herbs like lavender, chamomile, and cannabis are natural alternatives to relieve stress. Fancy creating a healthy, breathable environment? Find high quality cannabis seeds and have your mini herb garden. Other important stress-relieving activities include exercising and getting a healthy diet.

2. Engage in Meaningful Tasks

The brain can continue to grow, develop, and establish new connections even when we are old. So when you engage in challenging and unfamiliar activities, you mentally exercise your brain to improve its cognitive potential.

Learning new skills targets brain muscles, increasing your brain’s resilience to cope with stressful situations. You can dwell in complex activities like engaging in music, learning a new language, photography and playing chess to enhance your cognitive abilities.  

Regular physical exercise or swimming is another way to stay mentally fit. As these activities involve constant thinking and learning, you train your brain for various cognitive functions, such as concentration, problem-solving ability, and attention to detail.

Memory card games are another great way to engage your brain and target areas related to recalling and recognition strength.

3. Practice Mindfulness Meditation

In recent years, the public interest in mindfulness meditation has increased manifolds. Meditation involves being aware of your senses and feelings in a calm, controlled way. Over time, various studies have shown the scientifically proven benefits of meditation.

Mindfulness involves specific breathing techniques and other practices that relax your body and mind. Meditation help gets rid of negative thoughts and provides clarity in thoughts. It reduces stress and helps you focus on the present. Mindfulness can also enhance your cognitive flexibility and data-driven information processing abilities.

Mindfulness training enhances your attention capacities and regulates your emotional reactivity. It helps you to become less reactive to disturbances and focus more on your cognitive tasks.

If you wish to promote your working memory processes and creative thinking, mindfulness can be a fantastic choice. Regular practice can also increase your ability to retrieve specific information when required.

4. Connect and Network

Social isolation and loneliness can disrupt your brain and cognitive functions. It can also lead to sleep disruption, high blood pressure, and depression. Hence, it is vital to connect and engage with other people. Socializing in meaningful activities with your friends boosts your mood and provides a sense of purpose.

Also, engaging in quality relationships and volunteering activities involves a high level of social and intellectual function. You should adopt a more active lifestyle and absorb leisure activities to maintain or enhance your thinking skills.

Meaningful social activities also slow down the cognitive decline in later stages of your life and can even lower the risk of dementia.

Takeaway

Actively engaging your brain in new and challenging tasks improves its functioning and boosts connectivity between different brain areas.

The best thing you can do is develop new habits, take on fresh challenges, or build social relationships. These activities can have a positive long-term effect on your brain health and prevent it from declining. Work on these activities, and your cognitive skills will get sharper with time.

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