Five Deadly (and Curable) Sins of Brain Health

Your brain is a wonderland of connectivity - billions of connections of thought, emotion, and physical action triggers are possible every few seconds. So why do we so often fail to summon the memory of a name, a scheduled appointment, a grocery list item or our car keys? Five things can get in the way of the high function and ever-expanding intelligence we were born to experience.

#1 -- The Sin: Shallow breathing. The brain must have its cells oxygenated for full function. Sedentary lifestyles, stress-tightened muscles, and just plain bad habits keep many people from taking in long, deep breaths.

The Cure: Start right now. Take a long, deep breath, allowing your stomach to expand in order to engage the diaphragm below the rib cage. The diaphragm is responsible for pulling air down into our lungs. Hold it at the top of the breath for four seconds, then breathe out slowly, counting to eight. You should contract the abdomen to force out the last of the stale air. Repeat for the equivalent of five Hail Marys.

#2 - The Sin: Remaining motionless. Or almost. How long have you been at your computer now? Come on, be honest. More than fifteen minutes? Uh, two hours? Circulation is sludgy in a sedentary body. Breathing is not really considered a sport. Sorry.

The Cure: Get up! Read this one paragraph and then DO it! Walk around the room, head outside, keep going, all the way to the stop sign! Swing your arms! Get up at least every half hour and get your circulation moving through your body.

#3 - The Sin: Dehydration. Precious few people actually drink enough water. If you are even a little bit thirsty, you are already dehydrated.

The Cure: Start making it a habit to keep a glass nearby with a nice ceramic pot full of fresh water (which you can probably get from your tap). Fill glass. Drink. Repeat.

#4 - The Sin: Being constantly stressed out. Your brain has no choice but to be drenched in the cell-killing substance called cortisol if you don't take measures to reduce stress in your life.

The Cure: Become watchful over your own life, notice the things that are causing the most stress, and deal with them. Get help where appropriate. (Hint: It is almost always appropriate to get help.)

#5 - The Sin: Isolating yourself. Sure, some of us have regular days with way too much interaction, and a little isolating would actually be a brain boost. But more often these days, people are isolated with their laptops, even when they are in public. The brain does NOT grow when isolated with its own unchallenged mental habits.

The Cure: Make new friends. Go to a class, on a hike, volunteer, or start calling all those dear old friends you've been missing for the last decade.