Mental workouts

I participated in the "Loving Kindness" practice this week and had mixed reactions about the experience. I found that I really liked the imagery that the narrator suggests but the amount of time afterwards to hold the image was too long and I found myself getting distracted and thinking about other things. I did however enjoy the ocean waves sounds during the intervals and thought that the overall experience was relaxing. I would recommend this to someone if they were looking for a way to expand their consciousness and open their hearts. One of the parts of the exercise that I particularly liked was the part about visualizing your enemies and taking away their suffering. I think forgiveness is incredibly important in achieving optimal health. When you are holding anger or resentment towards someone and you can't find a way to forgive them you are only hurting yourself. They don't know all of the emotions that are running in your head about that situation and more than likely they don't care. You have to forgive in order to release that anger and breed healthy thoughts and feelings rather than harboring negative emotions.

Mental workouts are exercises that stimulate mental activity and engaging the brain in active ways beyond watching television. The largest controlled clinical trial regarding mental workouts was funded by the National Institute of Health and reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The study found that mental exercises and cognitive training sessions improved the memory, concentration, and problem solving skills of healthy adults age 65 and older. The effects of these exercises were long lasting and erasing as much as 7 to 14 years of normal cognitive decline for at least 2 years. (NFNZ, 2014). There are several ways I can incorporate and implement mental workouts of my own to benefit from this knowledge. Social interactions have been proven to give positive results for healthy brain aging which means I need to continue to remain actively social. I start my new job at a school district working with many people so I think this new job will keep those social interactions very active. Continuing my education is another healthy brain exercise as it has been show that people who challenge their brain and actively gain knowledge are able to maintain healthy brain activity compared to lifestyles lacking in mental activity.

Neurological Foundation of New Zealand, (2014). Mental Workout. Retrieved from http://www.neurological.org.nz/brain-health/mental-workout