20 Activities To Boost Your Brain’s Functionality

Inspirational, Lists, Science

Neuroplasticity is a crucial feature of our brain that could be a determining factor in our evolution process. It allows our brain to grow and absorb more information, thereby helping us gain greater skills and exercise supreme control over our mind and body. Our brain works just like any other muscle in our body; with the right type of exercise and attention, it can grow and evolve into surpassing its original capabilities. Here is a list of 20 activities that are simple and enjoyable, but play a major role in helping you improve on your cognitive and developmental abilities.

Playing A Sport

Being involved in any sport has numerous benefits that help your overall development in the long run. Besides helping you gain physical fitness, most sports improve your hand-eye coordination along with boosting your decision making skills.

Playing Video Games

Gaming feels like one of those activities that should have zero benefits considering how much fun it can be, but in reality, gaming can improve your functioning in numerous ways. Research shows us that gaming improves your vision, multitasking capabilities, decision making, hand-eye coordination and spatial recognition.

Meditation

Meditation is one of the simplest way to work on your neuroplasticity. By taking control over the flow of thoughts in your mind space, you exercise a level of control that is very difficult to attain. It also plays a major part in improving your memory, attention span, decision making and overall personality.

Test Yourself

It is important to never let your brain stay idle for extended periods of time. Testing your mental and physical abilities with numerous activities is always a great way to keep pushing your brain to work more efficiently. Puzzles like Sudoku or playing a game of chess have been considered effective ways on working on your cognitive abilities.

Learning An Instrument

Working on your musical abilities can not only be a thoroughly satisfying experience, but it can also help you improve your overall brain functionality. Picking up any instrument is a sure-fire way of improving your hand-eye coordination and memory along with exercising those portions of your brain that require an artistic involvement.

Consuming Omega-3

There are many nutritional supplements you can consider in order to receive the required levels of nourishment to function at maximum efficiency. This includes consuming Omega-3 in any of its many forms, such as through fish or walnuts.

Healthy Sleep Cycle

Research has proven that any sleep deficit maintained over a period of two weeks can take a toll on a person’s functioning and abilities. This is why it is important to maintain a regular sleep cycle and stick to it.

Practicing Lucid Dreaming

It is proven that lucid dreamers have the ability to emit the rare alpha waves from their brain that is seen only in monks and geniuses. Trying to master lucid dreaming is a highly effective way to push your brain functioning even when you are sleeping.

Let Your Mind Wander

Structure is necessary in nearly every aspect of our lives, but sometimes structure can be a limiting factor than can hamper our creativity. It is important to let your mind breathe and give it the space it requires to access the unorthodox. Staying relaxed and letting your thoughts follow their intended course without any predilections can be a simple way to improve your creativity.

Listening To Music

Listening and absorbing different kinds of music can be a highly unconscious process that our mind undertakes without our knowledge. This is why it is hard to explain why we feel so strongly for certain kinds of compositions. Paying attention to musical compositions and focusing on individual instruments operating in symphony can be an entertaining way to improve your cognitive function.

Watching Television

Relaxing your brain is just as important as exercising it at times. Watching television is a great way to reduce stress and even improve on your general knowledge which can be achieving by watching quality programming. This is, after all, the golden era of television.

Understanding Art

You don’t have to be an Philosophy Major to try and decipher art. Visiting a museum or an art gallery is a great way to expand your horizon and direct your mind to lateral directions. Creating your own interpretation of art pieces that move you can be a great way to build on your imagination and creativity.

Being In A Healthy Relationship

There is a lot to be learnt from another individual and a healthy relationship is the best way to attain that. Research has shown that couples in happy relationships are less likely to break their positive frame of mind. Not only can you learn and experience everything in a unique way by being a part of good relationship, it also helps you grow and understand yourself better.

Travelling

Hitting the open road and going where it takes you is another highly effective way to broaden your horizons. Understanding the way the world works using books and information is one way of doing it, but if resources permit you, then there is nothing better than to experience the world first hand. Travel hard and travel well, you will reap great rewards.

Dancing

Being nimble on your feet isn’t a skill most people possess naturally. Dancing, however, has been used as a proven method of improving your coordination and planning skills. Athletes also turn to dancing to improve their footwork and overall balance.

Taking Up Yoga

A healthy mind needs to be aptly supported by a healthy body in order to function at full capacity. For those who are looking for something less stressful than playing a sport or regular exercise, yoga is a relaxing alternative that guarantees the same results.

Pushing Your Senses

Most of us are gifted with 5 senses that work hand-in-hand to help us better understand the world around us. Pushing the individual boundaries of each our senses is very important in order to maximize their overall functioning. Take the time to smell your food before you taste it, or listen to the sounds of the waves crashing into the shore before you dive into them. Experiencing every moment in your life using as many individual senses as possible will help you improve your overall experience as well.

Being Inquisitive

We are at our most inquisitive when we are young. As we grow older, we become less curious and more certain about the world around us. This can, in fact, have a negative effect on our brain’s functionality. To extract the most out of our brain, it is important to always keep it on its toes. Question everything, even when it feels like common sense. By breaking down everything around you based on facts and own your understanding of the world, you are working on your analytical abilities and critical thinking, areas that can be vital in your overall functionality.

Balanced Diet

Most people can be extremely picky about the type of diet they intend to pursue. The reality is that our body needs a little bit of everything to work at its best and an excess of anything can be bad for you. By keeping this simple mantra in mind and opening your taste buds to any adventures it may experience, you can look to make the most out of the culinary world and all that it has to offer.

Staying Positive

Perhaps the most important aspect of improving yourself is your-mind set itself. Staying positive and taking the best out of every experience can go a long way in helping you maximize your potential and enjoying life to the fullest. Your brain releases the corresponding chemicals to match your positive outlook and boost your happiness levels, thereby reaffirming the importance of possessing the right frame of mind.