Why Brain Fitness?

Unleash the power or your Brain.  One of the most fascinating times of my life was working with Dr Doug Meints currently of Southwest Brain Performance Centers and Best Selling Author of Mom Brain 101.  We provided neurofeedback and cognitive training for peak performers.  But, I am here to say Brain Fitness is for EVERYONE not just peak performance or clinical dysregulation.  A solid Brain Fitness program is simple and will provide tons of benefits.

Stress Management: Today we are bombarded with stressors.  Constantly plugged in and accessible to everyone, hello Smartphones.  A 24 hour news cycle, increasing costs, stagnant wages, mass manipulation (Social Media) and the list goes on and on and on.  By taking a few steps we can help manage these stress bombs and navigate them more effectively.

Mental Clarity: A Fit Brain can take incoming messages and variables and process that information quickly and efficiently.  Ever have a conversation or review a presentation and not remember any of it?  Some call it brain fog or spider webs in the brain.  We think Brain Fitness leads to mental clarity and less of Charlotte’s Web in your nugget.

Peak Performance: Business, parenting, gardening, or even dog training we all want to perform at our best.  Exercising our brain allows us to optimize our focus and maximize our cognitive abilities.

Long Term Health: Just like the rest of your body, if we do not properly maintain our brains we could be on the road to future issues.  The goal is to maintain a healthy brain to reduce or slow the cognitive decline of age-relative issues. 

Hydrate and Sunlight

Bring on the Pee Test.  Is your urine light yellow or clear?  If no, drink more water.  Hydration is essential to all body functions, but the brain in particular.  Aim for at least a half ounce of water per pound of body weight.  This will help with energy and mental clarity throughout your day.

My favorite time of day is when the sun pops over the horizon and blasts you with her healthy natural light.  Exposure to sunlight helps regulate our internal clock (circadian rhythms), improve our mood and possibly boost cognitive function.  Aim for 20 minutes outdoors everyday.  If you can’t get natural sunlight, HumanCharger makes an awesome blue light headset that allows you to hack your schedule and get some light.

Binaural Beat Guided Meditation

Maybe one of my favorite Brain Fitness training items of all time is the use of Binaural Beats for guided meditation.  This passive method employs a headset and light emitting glasses.  The binaural beats are typically in an underlying guided meditation or music track.  The binaural beats are at different frequencies in each ear allowing your brain to synchronize to the frequencies.  With this passive brainwave entertainment you can see tremendous benefits, like the most amazing power nap ever without really sleeping.  We have used the BrainTap device for years and love it.

Active Brain Fitness:  Neurofeedback

When looking for ways to help us manage specific situations or more specifically be able to move into or out of specific brain wave patterns we can use neurofeedback.  Now this is more typically done at a clinic, however technology is evolving where we can start this at home.  Should you opt for clinician guided process you can contact Dr Doug Meints at the SW Brain Performance Centers.  One product that we are evaluating is the Sens.ai.  This is an app based program with guided programs for a more active neurofeedback training process.