Last week I added brain exercises to my daily routine to protect my mind against cognitive decline. I borrowed my children’s Nintendo DS and popped in the Brain Age game (which they were kind enough to lend to me), and started with the testing to determine the age of my brain. Yikes I really needed to get exercising. I really enjoyed the activity and have seen quick results as the cobwebs are being brushed away.
I began to wonder, what could one do if they don’t have accesss to the Nintendo DS and I came upon Lumosity. What Lumosity provides are brain game. Here is what their website provides as info:
- Shown to improve memory and attention
- Detailed feedback and improvement tracking
- Fun and easy: full workout in less than 10 minutes/day
If you don’t have access to something like the DS, Lumosity is a good online tool. When you exercise both the body and the mind what do you get? Well according to research it is possible to rewire the brain, and this process is called neuroplasticity. For more detail, give this Time magazine article a read. This interesting “rewiring”, both through physical and mental exercise reminded me of a book I recently read.
The book is titled Outliers, written by Malcolm Gladwell. In that book, Gladwell’s observations are that it takes 10,000 hours of practice to become an expert at something. According to Gladwell, there is no short cut to success. It takes time and effort. I fully agree. I think that this extends into the rewiring of our brains to adopt a healthy lifestyle. You need to exercise both body and mind. If you contiually practice and repeat over and over a particular good habit, it will stick over time.
That is why diets and New Year’s gym resolutions easily fall by the wayside. Building off of Gladwell’s 10,000 hour premise, I posit, you need 10,000 hours to become an expert in your own health. There is no easy way to it. Yes, we can take baby steps that are easy to do (like a pedometer for example), but it all takes time and effort.
Tomorrow I will…..continue logging my hours!
I stumbled upon your blog today and have enjoyed your articles. This one really struck a chord for me. Time and patience are needed for good health.
Thank you.
Thanks for your feedback. I am really happy to hear that you are enjoying the blog. Yes health takes time and patience, and I think the benefits are worth the effort.
Take Care
Sofia
I have used Brain Age 2 for some time and found it excellent. I must try the online one. Planning to listen to Outliers soon. Great blog.
We had gotten the DS and Brain Age games for my father-in-law and he used it every day for about a year. We saw improvement believe it or not in little things like remembering short term to-dos better. He also enjoyed playing so it didn’t seem like something of a chore.
That’s fantastic. I hope he continues to play the game.
Outliers is a good book and so is The Tipping Point. Read them both!
Thanks for the comment. Yes, I did enjoy both books.
That sounds like a very interesting book. Thanks for the recommendation.
I enjoy your blog.
If add up the number of years that we don’t follow healthy lifestyle habits, 1-3 years of good practice seems small in comparison.
Here’s to good health.
Cheers
Sofia
That is just over a year of practice. Good perspective when framed like that.
It is a lot longer than that. If you assume 8 hours a day it would take over 3 years! Sounds like a long time, but that is reality.
It isn’t about the specific hours. It’s the “idea” that it takes time. No magic pill or fad diet. The tough part is staying the course over that period of time.