When we speak of “staying forever young,” we think of cosmetics, exercise, and plastic surgery. Perhaps the most efficient way to keep our bodies healthy is through exercise and healthy food, but even more important is to keep our minds healthy with activities that continually challenge us to grow. Until the time of our deaths, neurons in our brains continue to produce “dendrites.” These dendrites are the communication pathways of neurons. Stimulated by new learnings, parts of our brain continue to grow throughout our entire lives.
You can stimulate this growth by challenging your mind with new languages, musical instruments, painting classes or even chess. If you don’t have time for classes, buy books (or borrow some from the library) that will force you to learn new concepts, and help you explore topics that have always interested you but that you’ve always made excuses to avoid: the universe, math, languages with different alphabets, religions different from your own, etc.
Also, take advantage of all learning opportunities. If you watch a movie about Marie Antoinette, why not learn more about her and that period of time by checking out a book or going online to do some research? Of course, you probably remember something from your time in high school about the French Revolution, but how would you understand it now as an adult? What kind of understanding would you have now with your deeper knowledge of the world? Would you pay more attention now in a biology class, would you try harder to solve math problems, or be able to connect more with the stories from history class?
Use everything in your life as an excuse to learn something new. Enrich your life and that of others with what you learn. Nothing makes the skin glow like an enlightened mind.
Check out: Protein Shakes for the Brain : 90 Games and Exercises to Work Your Mind-s Muscle to the Max [1]
