Tone Your Brain- Top 10 techniques to train your brain like your body

Tone your brain: top 10 techniques

By Adele Tevlin –

In the months leading up to the summer, people are on a mission to get their bodies back into shape after the long winter months. With bikini season looming, gyms and boot camps across the country are busier than ever, but what about training our brains and our minds to reach the same health goals we want for our body?

The truth is, our bodies are simply physical manifestations of our thoughts. The state of your body is a reflection of the state of your mind.

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Here are the top 10 tips for training your brain like your body in order to reach optimal health and wellness:

  1. Keep track of your achievements: there are accomplishments we can check off our list every day, rather than focus on the things we still need to achieve. Acknowledging your daily accomplishments can be done by changing the tone in which you speak to yourself. If you say things to yourself like “I am lazy” then those words will be expressed in your physical form. Speak kindly to yourself with words that are inspiring and positive in order to acknowledge your daily achievements. 
  2. Realize what you can’t control: Give careful thought to what you can and can’t control. When putting in this work in advance to identify your real priorities you can give a more realistic idea of what you can take on and achieve without feeling burned out. This will also help you focus on areas where change is within your control.
  3. Eat foods that fuel your brain: foods rich in omega 3 fatty acids like salmon and sardines as well as nuts and seeds, especially walnuts give your brain the boost in serotonin it needs and helps improve cognition.  60% of a dried brain weight is fat, it is no wonder deficiencies in specific kinds of fats can have huge repercussions on intelligence and behavior. 
  4. Walk it off: 20 minutes of walking a day will lower blood sugar, control cortisol which impacts memory when elevated and increased dopamine, a neurotransmitter that makes us feel good and allows us to think more clearly.
  5. Leave your comfort zone: Getting really good at Sudoku? Time to move on! Brain teasers don’t form new neural connections once you’ve mastered them. So try something that’s opposite your natural skills: If you like numbers, learn to draw. If you love language, try a logic puzzles.
  6. Manage your stress: chronic stress and cortisol can shrink your brain’s memory center. Interacting with others activates many parts of the brain—and learning new ways of coping forms new neural connections. Find a support group so that you’re not dealing with stress on your own.
  7. Drink Gotu Kola tea: This Ayurvedic herb, used for centuries in India, regulates dopamine. That’s the brain chemical that helps protect brain cells from harmful free radicals, boosts pleasurable feelings, and improves focus and memory.
  8. Meditate: deep breathing and relaxation lowers cortisol, protects memory, relaxes the nervous system and has been proven to aid in depression and anxiety treatment. Try it first thing in the morning with a glass of water!
  9. Change your frame of reference: Its easy to fall into the trap of comparing yourself to your favorite celebrity or even skinnier versions of yourself, but those comparisons will only keep you down. When something is getting you down, concentrate on what is working so you can step away from a negative frame of reference. 
  10. Try a food break: Research shows that people who fast one day a month unlock a unique form of blood glucose that helps the brain more efficiently transmit information. Break your fast at sunset with brain-healthy foods such as blueberries, walnuts, and some lean sources of protein to keep your blood sugar steady. 

 

Adele Tevlin, the Founder of ‘Adele Wellness’, an Executive Weight Loss Coaching’ business in Toronto, aligns the many factors of mental health and wellness to reaching optimal health and nutrition. With her NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming) coaching, Time-Line therapy, background in neurology and being a Nutritional Practitioner, Adele enjoys helping corporate professionals manage to reach a healthy lifestyle by starting with the brain.

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Tone Your Brain- Top 10 techniques to train your brain like your body
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