Use It or Lose It – Part 2 – Brain Heath
Welcome back to my latest post in my – As We Age series. In this article, I’m going to speak about methods for taking care of our brains to help in keeping them sharp and active.
This post is in no way speaking of dementia, Alzheimer’s or any other brain related disease, but focused on plain old aging and how to stay on top of our brain health.
Let’s begin with the little memory slips we acquire as we age.
I remember reading something long ago about associating something to someone to help remember people’s names we’ve briefly been introduced to. I admit to being the worst at that sometimes. I know I have a bad habit of forgetting someone’s name I was formerly introduced to because if I’ve sized up the person and had no interest in what they had to say, for me it’s out of sight out of mind. But sometimes it also happens that if I met someone and we chimed, and I meet them again, their name may still be stuck on the tip of my tongue, yet I know the face. If I can’t recall their name, I have no issues telling them politely, “I’m sorry I know we’ve met, but for the life of me, I can’t remember your name.” Plain old honesty works.
How to associate a name with a person you’ve briefly met: You can make up a rhyme for that person or add a name to their name in your head associated with something or someone who relates to their name. If you can remember a person by face only, try making up a rhyme in your head with something they do or enjoy. – Mike the bike (if you met biking), Carrie the shoes girl.
Another good idea to help remember where we put something down, is to make a mental and conscious note the moment we set something down. This is why it’s best to have a place for our items we use regularly. For example, every time I go out, my keys are on the credenza in my front hall. After putting on coat and shoes, I grab them and go, never having to look for my keys, because I always set them down first as soon as I come home – in the same place! Conscious effort, familiarity.
It’s also not difficult to misplace our glasses and/or phones. I do this stupidity at least a few times a week where I unconsciously put down my phone wherever I may have ended a phone call. Thank goodness for my landline because I use it to call my cell phone to listen for the ring. As far as glasses go, they can be left anywhere – often I’ll find them somewhere under the covers in my bed after passing out reading. Other times, I have to search a bit – thankfully while wearing another pair of glasses!
Another peeve of mine is my ability to forget what I was saying midway through a conversation. I find this happens when people interrupt what I’m saying – and the rest gets lost. Oh yes, it does come back eventually, but often too late to finish what I was saying. My friends have a habit of interjecting with questions while I’m telling them something. To help alleviate this blank moment of word stuck I preface a conversation or story with – “Okay, let me tell you the details and please don’t interrupt until I’m finished because YOU KNOW I will lose my train of thought.” It works mostly, but human curiosity sometimes can’t wait to interject.
Okay, so let’s get to the part about what we can do to sharpen our brains and keep smart.
It’s important that we challenge ourselves with doing things that we enjoy to keep the engines running smooth. Keeping sharp in our later years requires a good combination of various activities – Cognitive challenges, activities to keep us mobile, and another important component – social interaction. Mind and body go hand-in-hand when it comes to keeping brains sharp. Under that umbrella also comes proper nutrition and supplementation. If the body isn’t fed well, it affects both, our minds and bodies, causing brain fog and low energy. Keeping busy is the name of the game . . .
Please hop over to Sally’s blog to read the conclusion and my tips for keeping busy.
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