Category: Anxiety

Believing that struggling is a necessary component of success in any area of our life results exactly in that: STRUGGLING. Once we let go of the idea of struggling being a necessary component of life, we will start experiencing excitement and joy instead of struggle.

“You can’t grow without struggling.”
“Struggling is part of life.”
“No pain, no gain.”

How many times have you heard claims like that?

Obviously, enough times to take them as part of your belief system without considering other possible ways!

Struggle and pain are a choice. Nothing more, nothing less.

Let me repeat it:

It is a choice, which we blindly opt for just because it is a publicly “accepted” norm and we don’t even bother to doubt it.

But, once you begin the journey of constant letting go, and become freer of negativity, you will soon realize that the idea and feeling of struggling is just another negative feeling that can simply be let go.

After all the negative energy behind the idea that pain and struggle must be part of our life, we will find a new level of growth: through excitement, joy and positive anticipations – instead of struggle. From this new level of positive experience, you won’t be able to understand the concept of struggling anymore. This is because, from that moment, you will only see it as an opportunity to let go even more of this unproductive concept, or you will not experience it anymore at all. You will be simply experiencing achievements without struggling (expressed as negative energy and anxiety), which will be substituted with positive energy, positive anticipation and positive excitement. Because the idea and concept of struggling will be surrendered, there will be an amazing amount of new opportunities and a whole new level of abundance. The most difficult part will be to decide which opportunity to act upon!

Therefore, letting go of the idea of struggling has got a highly practical meaning in everybody’s life. It is a thing that should be done each time we spot that feeling, to build a better and happier way to live.

This, again, is a pure choice. Once we decide that we want to experience progress without struggle, but with joy, excitement and positive anticipation, all we need to do is to keep letting go the negative energy behind the idea of the concept of struggling, until it is completely gone. Then, you will become free of struggle, because it is simply another form of negative energy.

Here is the procedure for letting go of the idea of struggling:

1. In a quiet place, close your eyes. Let your mind bring up any feelings of struggle. Remember a recent situation, if it helps.

2. Start embracing and experiencing these feelings fully. Get deep into the feeling of your struggle.

3. DON’T JUDGE any of these feelings, and mainly, DON’T judge yourself in any way! Just let the feelings come out and experience them, without any attachments. Be an observer of your own feelings, without any attachment or judgment. If you start having any feeling like “I can’t”, just start experiencing feelings of “I can´t” and let them go as well.

4. Tell yourself several times: STRUGGLING IS A CONCEPT THAT I CAN LIVE WITHOUT, AND I AM LETTING THIS CONCEPT GO.

5. Start letting go of the idea of struggle and all the negative feelings behind that. Focus on those feelings. Don’t push them back; don’t block them or act on them either. Just let them express themselves and let them go.

6. Once the wave of the feelings is let go, ask yourself: “Can I live without struggling”?

7. If you feel any negative or unclear feelings again, repeat the process from the first step, until these negative feelings are gone and you feel that you can live without struggling from now on.

You will probably need to practice this several times, during the following few weeks, or even months. Or at least any time the feeling of struggle arises again (which means it has not been let go completely yet).

Believing that struggling is a necessary component of success in any area of our life results exactly in that: STRUGGLING. Once we let go of the idea of struggling being a necessary component of life, we will start experiencing excitement and joy instead of struggle.

“You can’t grow without struggling.”
“Struggling is part of life.”
“No pain, no gain.”

How many times have you heard claims like that?

Obviously, enough times to take them as part of your belief system without considering other possible ways!

Struggle and pain are a choice. Nothing more, nothing less.

Let me repeat it:

It is a choice, which we blindly opt for just because it is a publicly “accepted” norm and we don’t even bother to doubt it.

But, once you begin the journey of constant letting go, and become freer of negativity, you will soon realize that the idea and feeling of struggling is just another negative feeling that can simply be let go.

After all the negative energy behind the idea that pain and struggle must be part of our life, we will find a new level of growth: through excitement, joy and positive anticipations – instead of struggle. From this new level of positive experience, you won’t be able to understand the concept of struggling anymore. This is because, from that moment, you will only see it as an opportunity to let go even more of this unproductive concept, or you will not experience it anymore at all. You will be simply experiencing achievements without struggling (expressed as negative energy and anxiety), which will be substituted with positive energy, positive anticipation and positive excitement. Because the idea and concept of struggling will be surrendered, there will be an amazing amount of new opportunities and a whole new level of abundance. The most difficult part will be to decide which opportunity to act upon!

Therefore, letting go of the idea of struggling has got a highly practical meaning in everybody’s life. It is a thing that should be done each time we spot that feeling, to build a better and happier way to live.

This, again, is a pure choice. Once we decide that we want to experience progress without struggle, but with joy, excitement and positive anticipation, all we need to do is to keep letting go the negative energy behind the idea of the concept of struggling, until it is completely gone. Then, you will become free of struggle, because it is simply another form of negative energy.

Here is the procedure for letting go of the idea of struggling:

1. In a quiet place, close your eyes. Let your mind bring up any feelings of struggle. Remember a recent situation, if it helps.

2. Start embracing and experiencing these feelings fully. Get deep into the feeling of your struggle.

3. DON’T JUDGE any of these feelings, and mainly, DON’T judge yourself in any way! Just let the feelings come out and experience them, without any attachments. Be an observer of your own feelings, without any attachment or judgment. If you start having any feeling like “I can’t”, just start experiencing feelings of “I can´t” and let them go as well.

4. Tell yourself several times: STRUGGLING IS A CONCEPT THAT I CAN LIVE WITHOUT, AND I AM LETTING THIS CONCEPT GO.

5. Start letting go of the idea of struggle and all the negative feelings behind that. Focus on those feelings. Don’t push them back; don’t block them or act on them either. Just let them express themselves and let them go.

6. Once the wave of the feelings is let go, ask yourself: “Can I live without struggling”?

7. If you feel any negative or unclear feelings again, repeat the process from the first step, until these negative feelings are gone and you feel that you can live without struggling from now on.

You will probably need to practice this several times, during the following few weeks, or even months. Or at least any time the feeling of struggle arises again (which means it has not been let go completely yet).

Do you ever sit down to meditate and find your mind wandering off again and again? Or maybe you find your mind stuck on one thought that keeps repeating itself over and over, like a broken record.

Does a minor conflict or a little bump in your road sometimes set off a huge feeling-like sadness, fear, or anger-that you can’t get rid of? Does that feeling linger way longer than it should, so that it colors everything you do?

Do you have recurring physical pains, emotional conflicts, or negative thoughts that are perpetual thorns in your side?

Or maybe you have a more subtle feeling that is with you when you wake up every morning. It could be self-doubt, mistrust, or anxiety that keeps you from doing what you really want to do?

Perhaps, you feel one way one moment and completely different the next, like you’re a bunch of different people wrapped up in one skin?

If so, you’re not alone. We all go through these things.

What if there was a practice that could help you with every single one of these issues?

According to three prominent meditation teachers, that practice is “mindfulness.”

You’ve probably heard the word, but do you know what it really means?

Let’s begin with a definition from Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn. Kabat-Zinn is a mindfulness pioneer who has successfully used this technique in clinical settings to help people cope with stress, anxiety, pain, and illness. He is Professor of Medicine Emeritus and founding director of the Stress Reduction Clinic and the Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care, and Society at the University of Massachusetts Medical School.

According to Kabat-Zinn:

“Mindfulness is awareness, cultivated by paying attention in a sustained and particular way: on purpose, in the present moment, and non-judgmentally.” (p.1, Mindfulness for Beginners)

From this definition, we see that mindfulness has to do with a certain way of paying attention to your experience. It is about consciously holding your attention on what is happening in the present and having an attitude of unconditional acceptance.

Tibetan Buddhist spiritual leader Sakyong Mipham differentiates two aspects of mindful attention: mindfulness and awareness.

He says: “Mindfulness is what we use to hold our minds to any object-the breath, a rock, or a banana-and awareness is the intelligence that tells us what we’re doing… ” (P.50-51, Turning the Mind Into an Ally) Awareness is the ability to know where our attention is at any given time.

In other words, according to Mipham, mindfulness is the ability to place your attention on something and hold it there, while awareness is the ability to know where your attention is. Awareness tells you if you are “staying with” the object of your attention or wandering away from it.

Shinzen Young takes us deeper into mindfulness by describing it as a set of inner skills.

He says, “mindful awareness is defined as: three attentional skills working together: Concentration Power, Sensory Clarity, and Equanimity.” (p.7, Five Ways to Know Yourself: An Introduction to Basic Mindfulness)

These three skills of mindful awareness are something anyone can learn. They become tools in your self-management toolkit:

“You can think of Concentration Power as the ability to focus on what you consider to be relevant at a given time.

You can think of Sensory Clarity as the ability to keep track of what you’re actually experiencing in the moment.

You can think of Equanimity as the ability to allow sensory experience to come and go without push and pull.” (p. 7, FWTKY)

Now, can you start to see why Mindfulness is so important?

It enables you to concentrate on what is most important to you, get very clear information, and not get overwhelmed by your thoughts, feelings, sensations, and experiences.

Imagine what power that gives you!

For example, have you ever been so focused and immersed in something that time seemed to fade to the background? At this moment, you were perfectly concentrated, in the flow, and highly-effective at what you were doing.

Concentration Power enables you to “stay with” what is most important to you and let go of the rest. Through mindfulness training, you grow your concentration power, so you can enter a “flow” state, at will, any time. When you do that, you find yourself better able to stick with your best intentions and achieve what you truly desire.

If you’ve ever experienced moments of heightened sensitivity to details, when the world felt more “alive,” you’ve experienced Sensory Clarity.

Sensory clarity enables you to discover the important details in any situation, so you gain insight. You see what you need to see, right when you need to see it.

If you’ve ever suffered physical, emotional, or mental pain and had a moment when you let go of resisting it or identifying with it, so that you simply observed it and allowed it to flow through you, you had a moment of Equanimity.

In this moment, you realize that you “have” thoughts, feelings, and experiences, but these do not define you. You are a conscious presence who can choose to “inhabit” or “detach from” any thoughts, feelings, and experiences. With that realization, you become a “calm inner witness” to whatever happens. You have equanimity.

With the skill of Equanimity, you no longer feel the need to avoid or push down your negative thoughts and feelings and you aren’t strongly swayed by them either. You discover a balanced “middle position,” where you can witness whatever is happening and choose how you relate to it. The moment you do this, you find an amazing sense of ease, freedom, and joy.

Enjoy your practice!

Do you ever sit down to meditate and find your mind wandering off again and again? Or maybe you find your mind stuck on one thought that keeps repeating itself over and over, like a broken record.

Does a minor conflict or a little bump in your road sometimes set off a huge feeling-like sadness, fear, or anger-that you can’t get rid of? Does that feeling linger way longer than it should, so that it colors everything you do?

Do you have recurring physical pains, emotional conflicts, or negative thoughts that are perpetual thorns in your side?

Or maybe you have a more subtle feeling that is with you when you wake up every morning. It could be self-doubt, mistrust, or anxiety that keeps you from doing what you really want to do?

Perhaps, you feel one way one moment and completely different the next, like you’re a bunch of different people wrapped up in one skin?

If so, you’re not alone. We all go through these things.

What if there was a practice that could help you with every single one of these issues?

According to three prominent meditation teachers, that practice is “mindfulness.”

You’ve probably heard the word, but do you know what it really means?

Let’s begin with a definition from Dr. Jon Kabat-Zinn. Kabat-Zinn is a mindfulness pioneer who has successfully used this technique in clinical settings to help people cope with stress, anxiety, pain, and illness. He is Professor of Medicine Emeritus and founding director of the Stress Reduction Clinic and the Center for Mindfulness in Medicine, Health Care, and Society at the University of Massachusetts Medical School.

According to Kabat-Zinn:

“Mindfulness is awareness, cultivated by paying attention in a sustained and particular way: on purpose, in the present moment, and non-judgmentally.” (p.1, Mindfulness for Beginners)

From this definition, we see that mindfulness has to do with a certain way of paying attention to your experience. It is about consciously holding your attention on what is happening in the present and having an attitude of unconditional acceptance.

Tibetan Buddhist spiritual leader Sakyong Mipham differentiates two aspects of mindful attention: mindfulness and awareness.

He says: “Mindfulness is what we use to hold our minds to any object-the breath, a rock, or a banana-and awareness is the intelligence that tells us what we’re doing… ” (P.50-51, Turning the Mind Into an Ally) Awareness is the ability to know where our attention is at any given time.

In other words, according to Mipham, mindfulness is the ability to place your attention on something and hold it there, while awareness is the ability to know where your attention is. Awareness tells you if you are “staying with” the object of your attention or wandering away from it.

Shinzen Young takes us deeper into mindfulness by describing it as a set of inner skills.

He says, “mindful awareness is defined as: three attentional skills working together: Concentration Power, Sensory Clarity, and Equanimity.” (p.7, Five Ways to Know Yourself: An Introduction to Basic Mindfulness)

These three skills of mindful awareness are something anyone can learn. They become tools in your self-management toolkit:

“You can think of Concentration Power as the ability to focus on what you consider to be relevant at a given time.

You can think of Sensory Clarity as the ability to keep track of what you’re actually experiencing in the moment.

You can think of Equanimity as the ability to allow sensory experience to come and go without push and pull.” (p. 7, FWTKY)

Now, can you start to see why Mindfulness is so important?

It enables you to concentrate on what is most important to you, get very clear information, and not get overwhelmed by your thoughts, feelings, sensations, and experiences.

Imagine what power that gives you!

For example, have you ever been so focused and immersed in something that time seemed to fade to the background? At this moment, you were perfectly concentrated, in the flow, and highly-effective at what you were doing.

Concentration Power enables you to “stay with” what is most important to you and let go of the rest. Through mindfulness training, you grow your concentration power, so you can enter a “flow” state, at will, any time. When you do that, you find yourself better able to stick with your best intentions and achieve what you truly desire.

If you’ve ever experienced moments of heightened sensitivity to details, when the world felt more “alive,” you’ve experienced Sensory Clarity.

Sensory clarity enables you to discover the important details in any situation, so you gain insight. You see what you need to see, right when you need to see it.

If you’ve ever suffered physical, emotional, or mental pain and had a moment when you let go of resisting it or identifying with it, so that you simply observed it and allowed it to flow through you, you had a moment of Equanimity.

In this moment, you realize that you “have” thoughts, feelings, and experiences, but these do not define you. You are a conscious presence who can choose to “inhabit” or “detach from” any thoughts, feelings, and experiences. With that realization, you become a “calm inner witness” to whatever happens. You have equanimity.

With the skill of Equanimity, you no longer feel the need to avoid or push down your negative thoughts and feelings and you aren’t strongly swayed by them either. You discover a balanced “middle position,” where you can witness whatever is happening and choose how you relate to it. The moment you do this, you find an amazing sense of ease, freedom, and joy.

Enjoy your practice!

Self talks are things we tell ourselves, often in a subconscious way, that we believe to be true. They are not necessary true. In fact, they are often left unexamined, unchallenged and unverified. They are simply assumed to be true. Often, when we have properly examined them, they turn out to be otherwise.

Negative self talks are things we tell ourselves that negatively impact our lives. A common example is “I am not good enough”. Another one is “I am a bad person”. Negative self talks such as these are detrimental to our well being. They are harmful to our self esteem as well as to our physical health.

Everyone has negative self talks. We differ only in the degree or frequency of negative self talks. The good news is that we can change and reduce this unbeneficial mental habit.

1. Learn to be aware of your thoughts

Most people are not very aware of their own thoughts. By this, I do not mean that they do not know their thoughts entirely. We are all aware of our conscious talks. However, there is another layer of talks further below this conscious level that many are not very aware of. Very often, our self talks are found in this deeper level.

The way to become more aware of these self talks is by being more mindful. This would require a purposeful act of paying attention to our thoughts as they arise. In the beginning, this may feel awkward and foreign to our habits. With repeated practice, we can become better at paying attention to our own thoughts.

2. Pick out the negative self talks

Once we are good at noticing our thoughts, we can then pick out those negative self talks that often prevent us from becoming our best. For now, leave the positive self talks alone.

3. Challenge the negative self talks

Very often, negative self talks are found to be untrue when they are properly and honestly examined and challenged. They are often simply excuses we made up so that we can continue to stay “safe” in our comfort zones. Recognize that these are mental barriers that we ourselves have unconsciously erected, and they prevent us from facing up to our fears as well as stop us from overcoming our self-imposed limitations.

To challenge your negative self talks, ask yourself:

1. “Is it true?”
2. Can you be absolutely sure that it is true?
3. How would you feel if it were not true?

The goal is to challenge the truth of your own thoughts. Our natural habit is to resist this, and we can recognize this resistance by noticing the discomfort and anxiety that arise. Allow the anxiety to be. There is no need to act on the anxiety. Simply watch it arising, and with time, it will pass, just as all feelings do.

The more you practice, the easier it becomes to simply watch the resistance arising and passing away. Eventually, the habit of resisting reduces. We become more discerning in our thoughts. We may even be able to consciously replace a negative thought with a positive one.

This is true progress in changing a negative mental habit.

Self talks are things we tell ourselves, often in a subconscious way, that we believe to be true. They are not necessary true. In fact, they are often left unexamined, unchallenged and unverified. They are simply assumed to be true. Often, when we have properly examined them, they turn out to be otherwise.

Negative self talks are things we tell ourselves that negatively impact our lives. A common example is “I am not good enough”. Another one is “I am a bad person”. Negative self talks such as these are detrimental to our well being. They are harmful to our self esteem as well as to our physical health.

Everyone has negative self talks. We differ only in the degree or frequency of negative self talks. The good news is that we can change and reduce this unbeneficial mental habit.

1. Learn to be aware of your thoughts

Most people are not very aware of their own thoughts. By this, I do not mean that they do not know their thoughts entirely. We are all aware of our conscious talks. However, there is another layer of talks further below this conscious level that many are not very aware of. Very often, our self talks are found in this deeper level.

The way to become more aware of these self talks is by being more mindful. This would require a purposeful act of paying attention to our thoughts as they arise. In the beginning, this may feel awkward and foreign to our habits. With repeated practice, we can become better at paying attention to our own thoughts.

2. Pick out the negative self talks

Once we are good at noticing our thoughts, we can then pick out those negative self talks that often prevent us from becoming our best. For now, leave the positive self talks alone.

3. Challenge the negative self talks

Very often, negative self talks are found to be untrue when they are properly and honestly examined and challenged. They are often simply excuses we made up so that we can continue to stay “safe” in our comfort zones. Recognize that these are mental barriers that we ourselves have unconsciously erected, and they prevent us from facing up to our fears as well as stop us from overcoming our self-imposed limitations.

To challenge your negative self talks, ask yourself:

1. “Is it true?”
2. Can you be absolutely sure that it is true?
3. How would you feel if it were not true?

The goal is to challenge the truth of your own thoughts. Our natural habit is to resist this, and we can recognize this resistance by noticing the discomfort and anxiety that arise. Allow the anxiety to be. There is no need to act on the anxiety. Simply watch it arising, and with time, it will pass, just as all feelings do.

The more you practice, the easier it becomes to simply watch the resistance arising and passing away. Eventually, the habit of resisting reduces. We become more discerning in our thoughts. We may even be able to consciously replace a negative thought with a positive one.

This is true progress in changing a negative mental habit.

Fleeting mind, where are you flying? To the hills of restlessness, or to the dales of calm? To the depths of the oceans hitherto unexplored?

Calm thyself, my greatest friend,or may I call you my most formidable foe, in times of unbridled emotional cataclysm?

A focussed mind is a calm mind, a mind which generates great power, enough to set the turbines of the hydroelectric plants into motion, a mind which brings forth the innumerable discoveries which bless mankind.

Calm thee my friend, like a Zen master, a single ripple sending forth bursts of sudden thought, to be eclipsed to oblivion by the calm mind.

Restless mind, focus on your breath, the deep inspiration and expiration, till you become one with the breath; the state of mind called ‘Satori’, where time and tide stand still; the hours pass by into the deep fathomless void.

The mind, the great tool possessed by humanity, you are not meant to be wasted on the millions of unwanted thoughts that wade through you, the quality of which, either makes life a beautiful paradise, or the abominable Hades akin to Dante’s Hell.

Why my friend, my great mind do you send people into the depths of despair, the uncontrolled negative repetitive thoughts creating hitherto unheard of terms like ‘Depression’, ‘Anxiety’, and ‘Suicide’? Restless mind, when you accept things for what they are, instead of trying to change the world to suit your liking, would you not embrace peace?

Mind like a volcano, why do you not accept the uniqueness of every human being, how would the world look like, if clad in similar colours, with nothing to break the drab monotony.

Mind like water, you go with the flow, creating paths where none exist, filling the vacuum which exists, accepting the beauty of every present moment, the beauty in unevenness, and the unevenness in every beautiful form.

My mind, when you see the reality for what it is, rather than project your hopes and aspirations into the present, do you not distort the nature of reality, and the nature of your progress?

Mind, when you calm yourself, all thoughts fade away; you bear no angst towards anyone, neither do the worries of the past, nor the fears of the future torment you. You release everything, till there is nothing left to be released; you and the body you occupy then become one.

This state of mind achieved by years of meditative practice is what they refer to as enlightenment, where you do not seek approval from others, and do not have to prove anything to anyone; a state where everything becomes effortless, there is no more struggle or strain, just the calm realisation of ones’ self.

A mind truly without fear, is a mind without expectation or ego, where you cherish every moment for what it is, enjoy every activity for what it is, immerse yourself fully in the task at the moment-what the modern-day Psychologists call the ‘Zone’, … where hours seem like minutes, and time just fades away without much ado… and you remain in the ‘Divine Now.’

Fleeting mind, where are you flying? To the hills of restlessness, or to the dales of calm? To the depths of the oceans hitherto unexplored?

Calm thyself, my greatest friend,or may I call you my most formidable foe, in times of unbridled emotional cataclysm?

A focussed mind is a calm mind, a mind which generates great power, enough to set the turbines of the hydroelectric plants into motion, a mind which brings forth the innumerable discoveries which bless mankind.

Calm thee my friend, like a Zen master, a single ripple sending forth bursts of sudden thought, to be eclipsed to oblivion by the calm mind.

Restless mind, focus on your breath, the deep inspiration and expiration, till you become one with the breath; the state of mind called ‘Satori’, where time and tide stand still; the hours pass by into the deep fathomless void.

The mind, the great tool possessed by humanity, you are not meant to be wasted on the millions of unwanted thoughts that wade through you, the quality of which, either makes life a beautiful paradise, or the abominable Hades akin to Dante’s Hell.

Why my friend, my great mind do you send people into the depths of despair, the uncontrolled negative repetitive thoughts creating hitherto unheard of terms like ‘Depression’, ‘Anxiety’, and ‘Suicide’? Restless mind, when you accept things for what they are, instead of trying to change the world to suit your liking, would you not embrace peace?

Mind like a volcano, why do you not accept the uniqueness of every human being, how would the world look like, if clad in similar colours, with nothing to break the drab monotony.

Mind like water, you go with the flow, creating paths where none exist, filling the vacuum which exists, accepting the beauty of every present moment, the beauty in unevenness, and the unevenness in every beautiful form.

My mind, when you see the reality for what it is, rather than project your hopes and aspirations into the present, do you not distort the nature of reality, and the nature of your progress?

Mind, when you calm yourself, all thoughts fade away; you bear no angst towards anyone, neither do the worries of the past, nor the fears of the future torment you. You release everything, till there is nothing left to be released; you and the body you occupy then become one.

This state of mind achieved by years of meditative practice is what they refer to as enlightenment, where you do not seek approval from others, and do not have to prove anything to anyone; a state where everything becomes effortless, there is no more struggle or strain, just the calm realisation of ones’ self.

A mind truly without fear, is a mind without expectation or ego, where you cherish every moment for what it is, enjoy every activity for what it is, immerse yourself fully in the task at the moment-what the modern-day Psychologists call the ‘Zone’, … where hours seem like minutes, and time just fades away without much ado… and you remain in the ‘Divine Now.’

We all know what we’re supposed to do to keep our bodies healthy, limber, and long-lasting. But how do you start treating your brain better so it works at its best today and will keep working at its best tomorrow?

Unlike diets in which you can see that you’ve lost either weight or inches-brain boosting is a tougher thing to track. Although there has been an explosion in brain research over the past decade, much of the work has been done on the elderly, and a lot of the findings show intriguing levels of correlation but, in fact, fall short of actual cause and effect. And the only true examination of your brain comes when you don’t really need it anymore at autopsy.

Scientists’ original goal was to prevent both structural and functional changes. Now researchers are trying to understand why some people have what is called cognitive reserve, which is the ability to maintain most or all normal brain function even after negative changes such as Alzheimer’s disease, dementia, or decreased memory-occur. So, even if you have a strong family history of mental decline in later years, what you do or don’t do right now could make all the difference in keeping your brain in top condition.

When you wake up 6 am: Wake up and smell the coffee. One of the scents most stimulating to the brain is coffee, So even if you don’t plan to drink any, you should still brew some and take a good, long sniff. Or better yet, actually drink a cup. In one French study, women age 65 or older who knocked back more than three 5-ounce cups a day were 33% less likely to experience a decline in verbal fluency than those who drank less than a cup. Voila! 7 am: Fill up on brain food. Enjoy a power breakfast high in brain-healthy foods such as blueberries, on top of cereal or fat-free yogurt. Blueberries’ antioxidant properties are wonderful, but they also increase blood flow to the brain, which, in turn, improves your neuronal function. (Try these power breakfasts to boost your brain.) 8 am: During breakfast, play a game. Time yourself while working a crossword or Sudoku over your eggs and bacon.

It’s a great way to boost attention, processing speed, and positive intellectual engagement. Or try these 7 brain games designed to boost your thinker. Mid-morning 9 am: Turn off your GPS. This nifty device actually prevents you from using the parts of your brain involved in spatial navigation, as well as the hippocampus, which controls memory and orientation. The stimulation of your brain peaks at 9 am, so save the GPS for when you’re really lost, okay? 10 am: Get a move on. At the gym, focus on cardio, which may increase the volume of the hippocampus. If you can’t get to the gym, then park a half mile away from the office. Why? Because one of the surest ways to get enough exercise to maintain brain health is to walk at least 1 mile a day. 11 am: Lighten up! Reconfigure your lighting with full-spectrum bulbs to stimulate alertness and enhance critical brain functions, such as memory, as well as influence mood. Experts say this kind of light actually mimics what humans were accustomed to before electric illumination. At lunch Noon: Get your eyes and ears checked before lunch. By your mid-40s, it’s time to start making sure you’re regularly checking both your vision and your hearing-vision, annually; hearing, right away to get a baseline and then intermittently with an audiogram, so input to the brain remains optimal. 1 pm: Make a lunch with crunch. Carrots, celery, and green bell peppers are easily some of the best sources of luteolin, which may contribute to reducing the risk of dementia. You can also cook more often with olive oil or drink peppermint and chamomile teas, which contain luteolin. 2 pm: Have a nap attack. While we’ve all heard about the benefits of a delicious 30-minute are longer afternoon snooze. The people who took the longer nap increased their ability to learn,.

The brain clears short-term memories, leaving room for new and fresh learning. In the afternoon 3 pm. The more experienced people are at doing, the more parts of their brains are engaged, So push yourself beyond the basic altogether. 4 pm: Give up smoking once and for all. it’s been recently proven that middle-aged men and women who smoke almost double their risk of “memory deficit and a decline in reasoning abilities.” cessation. Call this reason to stop puffing and start breathing better now! 5 pm:

Drive home via a different route. One of the keys to brain health is breaking routines, It’s the small changes in rote procedures that give your brain a workout. So tonight at dinner, make sure to change where you sit at the table. Around dinner 6 pm: Prepare a dinner rich in omega-3s. Increasing your intake of the omega-3 fatty acid DHA-found in salmon, tuna (especially bluefin), sardines, and herring has been linked with better nonverbal reasoning and vocabulary. 7 pm: Eat with family or friends. One of the factors most protective of the brain later in life is regular social interaction, friends every woman needs.) 8 pm: Toss the remote. Turns out every hour spent watching the tube when you’re between ages 40 and 59 increases your risk of developing dementia by 1.3%. Each hour spent on intellectual activities decreases Alzheimer’s risk by 16%, and an hour of socializing causes an 18% decline in risk. Before bed 9 pm: Say it in Spanish! People who are bilingual are better multitaskers.

You can achieve a similar effect by mastering a new song on a musical instrument you already know how to play. 10 pm: Get your groove on as often as you can. Sex not only engages the brain but in lab rats, it also contributes to the creation of brand-new brain neurons. When rats had sex more than once and up to 14 days in a row the critters got the same brain-building effects, plus less anxiety. (Need more convincing to get busy? Check out these 7 Reasons Sex Is Ridiculously Good For You.) 11 pm: Unplug well before you hit the pillow. The quality and quantity of light you take in just before you turn in makes a big difference in how well you’ll sleep. backlit displays like those on laptops, iPads, and other devices-bombard you with stimulating blue light just when you want your brain to calm down. After all, you can continue reading War and Peace on your iPad tomorrow. Then the next day, start all over again!

We all know what we’re supposed to do to keep our bodies healthy, limber, and long-lasting. But how do you start treating your brain better so it works at its best today and will keep working at its best tomorrow?

Unlike diets in which you can see that you’ve lost either weight or inches-brain boosting is a tougher thing to track. Although there has been an explosion in brain research over the past decade, much of the work has been done on the elderly, and a lot of the findings show intriguing levels of correlation but, in fact, fall short of actual cause and effect. And the only true examination of your brain comes when you don’t really need it anymore at autopsy.

Scientists’ original goal was to prevent both structural and functional changes. Now researchers are trying to understand why some people have what is called cognitive reserve, which is the ability to maintain most or all normal brain function even after negative changes such as Alzheimer’s disease, dementia, or decreased memory-occur. So, even if you have a strong family history of mental decline in later years, what you do or don’t do right now could make all the difference in keeping your brain in top condition.

When you wake up 6 am: Wake up and smell the coffee. One of the scents most stimulating to the brain is coffee, So even if you don’t plan to drink any, you should still brew some and take a good, long sniff. Or better yet, actually drink a cup. In one French study, women age 65 or older who knocked back more than three 5-ounce cups a day were 33% less likely to experience a decline in verbal fluency than those who drank less than a cup. Voila! 7 am: Fill up on brain food. Enjoy a power breakfast high in brain-healthy foods such as blueberries, on top of cereal or fat-free yogurt. Blueberries’ antioxidant properties are wonderful, but they also increase blood flow to the brain, which, in turn, improves your neuronal function. (Try these power breakfasts to boost your brain.) 8 am: During breakfast, play a game. Time yourself while working a crossword or Sudoku over your eggs and bacon.

It’s a great way to boost attention, processing speed, and positive intellectual engagement. Or try these 7 brain games designed to boost your thinker. Mid-morning 9 am: Turn off your GPS. This nifty device actually prevents you from using the parts of your brain involved in spatial navigation, as well as the hippocampus, which controls memory and orientation. The stimulation of your brain peaks at 9 am, so save the GPS for when you’re really lost, okay? 10 am: Get a move on. At the gym, focus on cardio, which may increase the volume of the hippocampus. If you can’t get to the gym, then park a half mile away from the office. Why? Because one of the surest ways to get enough exercise to maintain brain health is to walk at least 1 mile a day. 11 am: Lighten up! Reconfigure your lighting with full-spectrum bulbs to stimulate alertness and enhance critical brain functions, such as memory, as well as influence mood. Experts say this kind of light actually mimics what humans were accustomed to before electric illumination. At lunch Noon: Get your eyes and ears checked before lunch. By your mid-40s, it’s time to start making sure you’re regularly checking both your vision and your hearing-vision, annually; hearing, right away to get a baseline and then intermittently with an audiogram, so input to the brain remains optimal. 1 pm: Make a lunch with crunch. Carrots, celery, and green bell peppers are easily some of the best sources of luteolin, which may contribute to reducing the risk of dementia. You can also cook more often with olive oil or drink peppermint and chamomile teas, which contain luteolin. 2 pm: Have a nap attack. While we’ve all heard about the benefits of a delicious 30-minute are longer afternoon snooze. The people who took the longer nap increased their ability to learn,.

The brain clears short-term memories, leaving room for new and fresh learning. In the afternoon 3 pm. The more experienced people are at doing, the more parts of their brains are engaged, So push yourself beyond the basic altogether. 4 pm: Give up smoking once and for all. it’s been recently proven that middle-aged men and women who smoke almost double their risk of “memory deficit and a decline in reasoning abilities.” cessation. Call this reason to stop puffing and start breathing better now! 5 pm:

Drive home via a different route. One of the keys to brain health is breaking routines, It’s the small changes in rote procedures that give your brain a workout. So tonight at dinner, make sure to change where you sit at the table. Around dinner 6 pm: Prepare a dinner rich in omega-3s. Increasing your intake of the omega-3 fatty acid DHA-found in salmon, tuna (especially bluefin), sardines, and herring has been linked with better nonverbal reasoning and vocabulary. 7 pm: Eat with family or friends. One of the factors most protective of the brain later in life is regular social interaction, friends every woman needs.) 8 pm: Toss the remote. Turns out every hour spent watching the tube when you’re between ages 40 and 59 increases your risk of developing dementia by 1.3%. Each hour spent on intellectual activities decreases Alzheimer’s risk by 16%, and an hour of socializing causes an 18% decline in risk. Before bed 9 pm: Say it in Spanish! People who are bilingual are better multitaskers.

You can achieve a similar effect by mastering a new song on a musical instrument you already know how to play. 10 pm: Get your groove on as often as you can. Sex not only engages the brain but in lab rats, it also contributes to the creation of brand-new brain neurons. When rats had sex more than once and up to 14 days in a row the critters got the same brain-building effects, plus less anxiety. (Need more convincing to get busy? Check out these 7 Reasons Sex Is Ridiculously Good For You.) 11 pm: Unplug well before you hit the pillow. The quality and quantity of light you take in just before you turn in makes a big difference in how well you’ll sleep. backlit displays like those on laptops, iPads, and other devices-bombard you with stimulating blue light just when you want your brain to calm down. After all, you can continue reading War and Peace on your iPad tomorrow. Then the next day, start all over again!