Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes: Switch This Routine For Cognitive Health
Some mental floss for training your brain and running your mouth.
TRY A LITTLE KINDNESS
November 13 is World Kindness Day, and though it’s disheartening that we need to actively set aside a day to be kind once a year, it’s a start. And now that you know this, you’ll feel crappy if you’re anything less than kind on Monday. If you need inspiration, try giving someone a thoughtful compliment, paying for the coffee or toll for the person behind you, or just sending positive loving thoughts out, even to the people that vex you the most. Sorta makes you miss the old days when all you had to do was Rewind. Since my job is only to provide you with random acts of wellness, take it from the Rhinestone Cowboy himself.
CHEW ON THIS
If the eyes are the window to the soul, the mouth is the window to your whole body. Oral hygiene is the first preventative health practice we ever learn, but it’s proving to be about a lot more than keeping your choppers in your head. Poor oral health has been linked to chronic illnesses like cardiovascular disease and diabetes due to inflammation in the body from unhealthy gums, and more recently, it’s been shown that chronic inflammation can lead to neuroinflammation in the brain, which plays a key role in depression and in the development of Alzheimer's. Lately it seems like there’s an increased risk of Alzheimer's in everything we do; sad trombone. But if we look on the bright side (which probably decreases the risk of Alzheimer's), now we have better resources to help mitigate those risks. So brush, floss and say ahh.
HERE’S A TIP, MAKE THE CHANGE
While you’re brushing and thinking about your brain, this is a great time to incorporate a little multitasking hack. Neuroplasticity is our brain's process of rewiring itself and forming new pathways in response to stimuli. Learning a new language, meditating and working puzzles are all significant contributors to this process, but on a more micro level, even changing up your routine like brushing your teeth with your non-dominant hand can be a great way to challenge your brain. Yes, like most hacks, there are conflicting views on whether alternate hand brushing can really provide that much benefit, but I see no downside to a little cross-training as a warm-up to your Wordle.
Be well, and also have fun,
xo
Erica
