Big Brain Energy - 3 Things that Boost Brain Health
Big Brain Energy
The brain is responsible for a lot of important decision making. Planning, remembering, and organizing, the brain is the one who decides how well you do in life and how independent you are able to be.
When you age, a few things happen to your brain:
Words form slower
Multitasking becomes more difficult
Attention span becomes shorter
Inflammation increases
Blood flow to the brain decreases
However, there is growing evidence that, if given enough time to learn new tasks, the brain can continue to take on the challenges of aging and become stronger.
3 things that strengthen brain connections
Music
Movement
Meditation
Music
We will begin with the Kirtan Kriya. The Kirtan Kriya is a type of meditation from the Kundalini yoga tradition practiced for over six thousand years.
Sometimes called a singing meditation, Kirtan kriya involves singing and elongating the syllables of the word “Satnama,” which means “my soul's true essence,” while simultaneously and sequentially performing four mudras.
A Mudra is a hand gesture, like you might wave to tell someone hello, the four mudras of the Kirtan Kriya tell the story of your life by touching the index finger to the thumb, the middle finger to the thumb, the ring finger to the thumb, and the pinky to the thumb.
GYAN - Begin and Know
SHUNI - Live and Have Patience
SURYA - Burn Up All Energy
BHUDI - Communicate and Recycle
As you touch the fingertips to the thumbs, feel the energy of each mudra in your hands.
This fun song and finger tapping exercise is clinically proven to reduce stress and improve core memory function when practiced for just 12 minutes a day.
Sing the sounds Saa Taa Naa Maa along with four repetitive mudras eight times aloud for the body, eight times in a whisper for the mind, and eight times quietly for the soul. Repeat in the opposite direction.
Movement
Meditation
Meditation is proven to ease chronic pain, reduce stomach issues, and even fight depression.
Making an effort to meditate everyday will give you a deeper connection to your body, a heightened awareness of what is and is not good for you personally, and an enlarged prefrontal cortex. Meditate to stay calm, problem solve, and learn new things everyday.
Repeat these three affirmations in your head:
I am worthy of love
I am worthy of abundance
I am worthy of stability
End your practice with gratitude.
Think of someone you love.
Notice the feeling you get when you picture them.
Give thanks for them.
Bring your awareness back to your breath.
Thank yourself for showing up on the mat.
Inhale, LOVE IN. Exhale, LOVE OUT.
Sources:
https://alzheimersprevention.org/research/kirtan-kriya-yoga-exercise/
https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/how-aging-brain-affects-thinking