{"id":5979,"date":"2011-04-17T20:16:22","date_gmt":"2011-04-18T04:16:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/?p=5979"},"modified":"2013-09-09T14:42:06","modified_gmt":"2013-09-09T22:42:06","slug":"5-ways-to-think-more-clearly-brain-health-and-mental-maintenance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pickthebrain.com\/blog\/5-ways-to-think-more-clearly-brain-health-and-mental-maintenance\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Ways to Think More Clearly: Brain Health and Mental Maintenance"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>

<\/a><\/p>\n

Your friend texts you about their frustrating day, your taxes have to be filed, the radio spouts news of another disaster somewhere, and you still haven\u2019t taken your car in for its oil change.\u00a0\u00a0With the wonders of technology and high-speed interaction between us all, we\u2019re finding it more and more difficult to keep our mental machinery chugging away at optimum performance.\u00a0\u00a0What you need is scheduled maintenance.<\/p>\n

Just like your car, your brain needs fuel and regular care to perform like you need it to.\u00a0\u00a0If you drive your Ferrari too many miles without adding gasoline, it will sputter and quit on you.\u00a0\u00a0If you go months without replacing oil and tires and hoses and belts, your Maserati will eventually respond with sluggishness or even more catastrophic ends.\u00a0\u00a0Your brain is precision crafted\u2014there is no substitute.\u00a0\u00a0Here are five things to make sure your brain and mind keep humming along to serve your increasing needs:<\/p>\n

1)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Sleep!<\/strong> Deprive your brain of sleep long enough and you\u2019ll simply go crazy.\u00a0\u00a0Your brain needs sleep to organize what\u2019s happened during the day.\u00a0Memories are processed and learning is cataloged during sleep.\u00a0\u00a0Don\u2019t get enough sleep, and you\u2019ll simply not think clearly.<\/p>\n

2)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Meditate<\/strong>.\u00a0\u00a0Very different from sleeping, meditation is focused concentration on\u00a0right now<\/em>.\u00a0\u00a0It gets your brain functioning in different wave patterns by clearing your thoughts and keeping your mind in the\u00a0present<\/em>\u2014not worried about the future, not haunted by the past, but simply focused on\u00a0right now<\/em>.\u00a0\u00a0Your brain finds peace in mindful meditation, and that produces rejuvenation.<\/p>\n

3)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Experience beauty<\/strong>.\u00a0\u00a0For some, this is the same as creativity, but not all of us are creative types.\u00a0\u00a0Soak in what you find to be beautiful.\u00a0\u00a0Some find beauty in the purr of an engine, others find it in a baby\u2019s laugh.\u00a0\u00a0This is what generations have referred to when they advise us to \u201cstop and smell the roses.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0Whether you find beauty in flowers, in a fast pitch at a baseball game, or in the grandeur of nature, \u201cbeauty appreciation\u201d is the brain\u2019s opportunity to stop and function in a different mode.<\/p>\n

4)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Experience the spiritual<\/strong>.\u00a0\u00a0This isn\u2019t your mother nagging you to go to church.\u00a0\u00a0It\u2019s an invitation to open your mind to awareness of something beyond the physical and visible.\u00a0\u00a0For some this comes through study of quantum theory while others may experience it in religious worship.\u00a0\u00a0The 12-steps refer to it as appreciation or awareness of a \u201chigher power,\u201d or something bigger or different than all of this and us.<\/p>\n

5)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Veg<\/strong>!\u00a0\u00a0In addition to sleeping and meditating, your brain needs time to let go and roam where it may.\u00a0\u00a0You might \u201cveg\u201d by perusing Facebook or a magazine.\u00a0\u00a0Some people might just exist for a period of time in front of TV news or a rerun of a mindless sitcom.\u00a0\u00a0In men, \u201cvegging\u201d actually releases a hormone that produces a sense of calmness and can be useful to let go of the day\u2019s stress.<\/p>\n

While none of these five suggestions are helpful when practiced in excess, they each add to brain health.\u00a0\u00a0So to prevent your brain from pinging or backfiring, give it a tune-up with these five maintenance activities, and your thinking will be clear and smooth<\/p>\n

Kevin Bergen, MFT, is a freelance writer and the curator of\u00a0 www.kevinbergen.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Don’t Forget to Follow PickTheBrain on Twitter!<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n


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Just like your car, your brain needs fuel and regular care to perform like you need it to. If you drive your Ferrari too many miles without adding gasoline, it will sputter and quit on you. If you go months without replacing oil and tires and hoses and belts, your Maserati will eventually respond with sluggishness or even more catastrophic ends. Your brain is precision crafted\u2014there is no substitute. Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12163,"featured_media":13111,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[30,6],"tags":[783,1326,1324,1323,259,1325,66,4639,4629],"yoast_head":"\n5 Ways to Think More Clearly: Brain Health and Mental Maintenance - Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Just like your car, your brain needs fuel and regular care to perform like you need it to. If you drive your Ferrari too many miles without adding gasoline, it will sputter and quit on you. If you go months without replacing oil and tires and hoses and belts, your Maserati will eventually respond with sluggishness or even more catastrophic ends. 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