10 Triggers to More Brainpower

Worthwhile resolutions flow from one year to the next... We keep working on them - especially when it comes to building more brainpower. Lifestyle's key to optimal brain performance. Want to trigger yours?

1. Exercise that pushes blood flow - I like brisk walks and hikes for an hour's duration. In winter I cross country ski and in summer I golf on a course where I walk. What do enjoy for exercise? Exercise increases brainpower.

2. A Mediterranean oriented eating plan - The Mediterranean food plan is made up of more fruits and vegetables, more fish, and more healthy fats than the general American way of eating. I strive for five as Wegman's encourages five generous helpings of fresh fruits and veggies per day! You?

3. New adventures To grow brainpower, enjoy new intellectual adventures rather than sticking to the old. For instance, learn new games and play with others. You might enjoy a new game by Set Enterprises, for instance. Or, take a class, earn a degree, launch a new blog, use new technical tools. As Ellen Weber investigated, try taking a risk that'll benefit you.

Interestingly, searching the Internet increases brain function. A striking finding in a recent research study shows that "Internet searching appears to engage a greater extent of neural circuitry that is not activated during reading — but only in those with prior Internet experience," says Gary Small, director of UCLA's Memory and Aging Research Center.

What would you suggest for a new mental adventure?

4. Personally participate in the arts - Learning, Arts, and the Brain advances our understanding of the effects of music, dance, Currently researchers explore the question: Are smart people drawn to the arts or does arts training make people smarter? Learning, Arts, and the Brain advances our understanding of the effects of music, and drama education on other types of learning. People interested in the arts develop more attention skills. I work on increasing skills in video and photography, you?

5. Spice your foods Spices have more antioxidant power, measure for measure, than fruits and vegetables. Antioxidants help prevent cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, heart disease, and premature aging.

Beneficial spices include: Cinnamon, Ginger, Oregano, Rosemary, Turmeric, Garlic, Sage, Red Chili Peppers, Coriander, Parsley.

6. Play Brain Age video games - stretch your brain Nintendo released "Brain Age" in 2006. NPR's Robert Holt says that playing it makes him feel smarter -- but he's not sure if it actually makes him smarter. Exercising your brain definitely helps. Some research on Brain training games shows a real boost. What have you discovered about these games that you'd pass on?

7. Drink plenty of water daily Must admit I truly push to follow through on this one. Water enhances both body and brain. According to Eric Jensen the brain is 78 percent water. Hydration's needed for attention, critical thinking, learning and memory!

8. Avoid distractions to remain focused Many environments full of distractions divert your attention, and if you allow your brain to keep wandering off, you lose focus. Not too surprisingly, you establish a pattern that's dangerous later in life.

9. Set long and short term targets Goals provide focus. With no guiding vision or plan, people tend to drift. Goals provide a measuring stick for progress. Goals enhance productivity. They bolster self-esteem. And most of all, goals increase commitment, so you're more likely to achieve whatever you set out to conquer. For best results, Hara Estroff Marano of Psychology Today suggests...

* Write your targets.

The act of writing down what you plan to do is a strong motivator. Writing down goals prevents you from leaving goals vague. Use action verbs. Create targets with measurable outcomes. Specify completion dates.

* List obstacles.

Think of everything that might stand in your way. Then create solutions you can use today!

* List benefits of achieving your goal.

Knowing exactly what you will gain from reaching your goal is a strong motivator.

* Identify sub goals.

Break down complicated plans into manageable chunks. Decide what you plan to do, and when. Make sure each step is challenging but achievable, and that you have a complete design for action. Then write it on your calendar and review regularly.

* Learn what you need to know.

If information or skill is keeping you from achieving your targets, determine ways to fill in gaps, and build this into your action plan. Be willing to study and work hard to reach your goals. Ask yourself whether you are really willing and able to do what is necessary.

* Enlist help from others.

Find someone, a coworker or friend, with whom you share a common goal. Get someone to go to the gym with you, or to quit smoking with you, or to share healthy meals with you. A partner can help you stay committed and motivated. Look for role models, people who have already achieved the goals you seek to reach. Ask him or her for advice and suggestions. Find how that supervisor reached this current position, and incorporate what you learn into your plan.

* Visualize yourself achieving each target.

Make your visualization real. Find a quiet place, picture, write down your experiences afterward. Go through magazines and cut out images that represent your goal, then put them around the house. Provide constant reminders to yourself about what you're working toward. Describe your ideal life in the future. Write a few paragraphs describing what you've accomplished, and how your life improved as a result. Use present tense as if it is happening right here, right now. This makes vision real.

* Get organized.

Prepared and organized, you will feel better about your ability to reach your targets. Having information scattered in too many places makes you feel out of control and undermines motivation. Set up a filing system, set aside your workout clothes.

* Reward yourself each step of the way.

Treat yourself to rewards that give you a hefty lift as you accomplish milestones on your road to success.

10. Keep Belly Fat Under Control Belly fat can creep up on you and it's dangerous to your brain. People who have belly fat in their 40's are more likely to experience dementia in their 70's. That enough to get you moving in the right direction... it is for me! That's why my plan to live a lifestyle outlined above will keep me on a great path in 2009 and every year thereafter.

Sure took lots of motivation over the holidays to stick to these Triggers for More Brainpower, but I didn't wander from the path. Hope to keep this going throughout the New Year and beyond. Want to join me?

Invitation for Christmas Tea

Nothing would be so warming as to enjoy a Christmas tea with friends! Just think, tea can benefit your brain as can great intellectual or even relaxing conversations after a taxing day at the office! You'd see some sliced apples, thin bits of cheese and plump grapes as other goodies to enjoy. Let our tea begin...

Christmas Blues? 10 Tips for New Melodies

"I'll have a blue Christmas without you.
I'll be so blue thinking about you.
Decorations of red on a green Christmas tree
Won't be the same, if you're not here with me.

And when those blue snowflakes start fallin'
And when those blue melodies start callin'
You'll be doin' all right, with your Christmas of white,
But I'll have a blue, blue, blue, blue Christmas."

Maybe Elvis, Celine or other artists revive lyrics and blues that press a replay button in your mind.... You now focus on events which change the scope of Christmas 2008 at your home. Stop right there!... Consider your focus. The human brain picks up on focus and soon surges with memories or prophetic fantasies you create.

The more you or I listen to Elvis's blues... we're upping the ante to build a blue Christmas. The more we set our sights on negatives, the more the chemical cortisol seeps in and blues take on darker shades. Not too surprisingly, cortisol, a chemical hormone in your brain, pushes against relationships, courage, solutions, and general well being. Want to play a new melody? You can reset your tunes and your celebration.

10 Tips for New Melodies

1. Attend Christmas Eve service This brings your entire focus to the true meaning of Christmas and bolsters your intrapersonal intelligence, too. Chat with others afterward and make new friends.

2. Invite neighbor(s), friend(s) or single parent with kids to spend Christmas with you It's not too late and can bring an unforgettable day for all. Bringing folks into your home and preparing the meal helps overcome loneliness. In the spirit of Christmas, you give yourself to others. No better way to rev up your interpersonal intelligence.

3. Volunteer at food kitchen Attendance spikes at Christmas so you can assist in a variety of tasks. Volunteering is giving a gift of yourself in a fresh new way.

4. Sing with carolers You'll be singing whole new tunes and having fun with others. Replay these tunes in your head as you try new approaches to the season.

5. Adopt a pet Give yourself a trusty, but different friend. Get acquainted on Christmas day!

6. Buy inspirational book to read Reading creates new images to mind and alters focus.

7. Hike, Snow Shoe or Ski Exercise that takes you outside quickly increases blood flow to the brain and connects you to nature in ways that freshen your spirit. At the same time, you fight against seasonal affective disorder caused by low levels of melatonin.

8. Write encouraging letters Reconnect to friends and family with positive encouragement. A personal, handwritten letter sends a treasure. Only you can create this unique gift and it gives back to you as well... many times with surprising results.

9. Volunteer at homeless shelter or hospital Give folks that that hurt right now can your gift of help or inspiring conversation.

10. Choose foods wisely Comfort foods may bring small comfort momentarily, but can eventually erode health. Avoid snack foods, carbs and soft drinks with sugars. "Just say no" to alcohol. Eat small portions which include items from a Mediterranean diet or other wise food choices. Drink plenty of water, too.

Choose what works best for you to bring new focus to potential Christmas blues. Even without the blues, you might find new purpose as you play a new melody for Christmas this year. As we give to others, we bring more serotonin to our lives. Serotonin's a brain chemical that enhances well-being as we reset our iPods with new tunes.

Thanks Joanna Young for bringing an unexpected Christmas greeting this year - a true Joyful, Joyful! Joanna donated money to the Marie Curie Cancer Care Charity which provides free nursing care to cancer patients and others with terminal illnesses and sent to my mailbox. Truly an inspiring melody!

Are you resetting your playlist this year?

Tap Social Media to Spread Happiness

Every now and then other bloggers ask you to be part of bigger post with many contributors. In connecting with other bloggers, you move into a bigger social network... Interestingly, once you visit other blogs you begin to know the author through conversations on their ideas, and often you make friends with these folks. What an intriguing new aspect of interpersonal intelligence!

These friendships can help boost your happiness, according to a new study by researchers at Harvard and University of California. "Everyday interactions we have with other people are definitely contagious, in terms of happiness," says Nicholas Christakis, an author of this study.

Perhaps more surprising, Christakis says, is that the effect extends beyond the people we come into contact with. When one person becomes happy, the social network effect can spread up to 3 degrees — reaching friends of friends.

"We find that people at the center of the social network tend to be happier," says co-author James Fowler, a political science professor at U.C. San Diego.

Imagine a birds-eye view of a party: "You may see some people in quiet corners talking one-on-one," Fowler says. Others would be at the center of the room having conversations with lots of people. According to the study findings, those in the center would be among the happiest.

"We think the reason why is because those in the center are more susceptible to the waves of happiness that spread throughout the network," Fowler explains.

One way we get to know people behind blogs is to contribute to a larger meme in which you reveal facts about yourself. So when Anita Bruzzese tagged me to share seven interesting facts about me I decided to contribute...

7 Interesting Random Facts About Robyn McMaster

1. Appreciate the depth of John Milton's poetry. Today's his 400th birthday... Here's a quote you'd enjoy... "The mind is its own place and in itself, can make a Heaven of Hell, a Hell of Heaven."

2. Live in an old Stagecoach Inn, which was part of a century farm - a farm owned by a family for three generations of one family. Eli Griffith built it in 1836. Love it since my hubby and I own 146 acres!

3. Take pleasure in exploring the woods with my grandsons. We discovered a huge hollow tree together, the kind from which fables and fantasies derive.

4. Took pity on Ginger, a stray cat that wended her way to our home. After my son's family adopted a litter, which she presented unexpectedly, we had her spayed. She runs to meet me when I drive into the yard. Ginger's an unexpected melody.

5. Enjoy using puppets for creative exchanges with my grandsons. Just one of many activities to stimulate their minds...

6. Doubted Ellen Weber's words, "Robyn, you're brilliant." Because her words caused me to question what I was doing, eventually I followed a call to use God-given talents that lay unused. Must admit, I still doubt that description, but am curious, adventurous and open to keep learning.

7. Play golf with relish. In the last three years, Ellen Weber and I, as part of a foursome brought home first place trophies in Rotary tournaments. Now that snow's outside, I consider new courses to explore next year.

What about you? Want to join in this fascinating social exchange? I'm tagging

Big Man Walking

Amy Palko

Isadore Biffin

Ulla Henning

R.J. Leaman

Giovanna Garcia

Eva Ulian

Anyone who wants to be part of this list is welcome to join.

Here's what to do...

• Link to your original tagger, and list these rules on your blog.

• Share seven facts about yourself in the post - some random, some weird.

• Tag seven people at the end of your post by leaving their names and the links to their blogs.

• Let them know they’ve been tagged by leaving a comment on their blogs and/or Twitter.

I see this meme as a great way to prime your intrapersonal and interpersonal intelligences to spread good will to bloggers you met recently.

Tune-in Tasks to Stay Mentally Fit

Distractions interrupt the brain's memory-making ability, especially in older brains. Twittering when trying to balance the bank book or reading? Annoying noises and other environmental disruptions can cause increased activation in certain regions that normally should be quieter or tuned down. So your memory processes can be short circuited...

Older brains show greater susceptibility according to a recent study at Canadian Rotman Research Institute at Baycrest. “The auditory cortex and prefrontal cortex, associated with external environmental monitoring, were idling too high," claims Dr. Dale Stevens. Interestingly, older brains processed too much irrelevant information from surroundings.

Researchers scanned brains of 12 younger adults and 12 older adults with functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI).

Both age groups looked at pictures of faces and later indicated which they recognized.

When both groups failed to recognize a face, the researchers saw decreased activity in the memory encoding regions of the brain, including the hippocampus.

However, when older participants looked at faces they later forgot, their brains showed increased activity in a region that should have been quiet during memory encoding – the auditory cortex, the part of the brain that processes sound in the environment. The older adults averaged 70 years old.

"This indicates that older adults were not able to suppress or filter out the noise of the fMRI machine," said Stevens. "We did not see this in the younger adults at all."

So what possible strategies might folks use to increase attentional skills? Here're 10 starters...

1. Play soft music in background while working since music moves your brain waves.

2. Choose baroque music to increase focus while working or studying

3. Outsource memory on daily planner - include last minute "to-do's."

4. Keep items in a specific place. Determine fixed place for keys at all times. For example, use belt hook or hook on purse. Never set items down willy-nilly.

5. Turn off cell phone while driving. In addition, avoid "deep conversations" since they take your brain off focus on road.

6. Avoid multi-tasking. Brain focuses well on one thing at a time, whether it be driving or writing.

7. Keep eyes on work tasks as you complete them to make sure all's truly finished and clutter removed, and tools returned to designated sites. Clutter exacerbates attentional problems.

8. Observe a person's face carefully and repeat name after introduction. Make mental note of an animal you might connect to that person. Ask the person a question about something s/he enjoys. That adds to a viable memory.

9. Look into person's eyes as you speak so your mind does not wander around the room.

10.Turn off TweetDeck and other techical devices that may interrupt during creative work times. Distractions shut down focus for creativity not matter your age.

Interestingly, as you look at this list, you can see that folks of all ages, teens to seniors, exerience interruptions throughout a day. What do you do target and tune-in, rather than tuning-out?

Take Problem to Possibility

What if leaders in today's workplaces found creative ways to tap into talent when problems arise? Most dance choreographers would tell a pregnant dancer to take a leave, but not Garth Fagan. Garth retained dancer, Nicolette Depass, though six months pregnant, and featured her in "Phone Tag," to break old paradigms. Along with Norwood Pennewell, who's danced for a startling 30 years, Nicolette "danced vigorously and beautifully as ever" to premier this dance at Joyce Theater in New York on election night and again in the Rochester, NY premier.



"The special radiance of a pregnant dancer of Nicolette's quality," Garth muses, "brings new shape and dimension to dance steps old and new and celebrates my and the company's joy at the union of her and husband Bill Ferguson's superb gene pools."

The dance language of Garth Fagan draws on many sources: torso centered-movement, weight sense of modern dance, Afro-Caribbean energy, precision and speed of ballet and rule breaking precision of post-moderns.

Garth primes his working memory, plus digs from past experiences in his basal ganglia for creative approaches that lead to new possibilities.

How have you recently used a personal capability to develop a unique creation where you work?

What I Learned from Uncle Earl's Generosity

My hubby Carl, desired to be a physical education teacher. So when I obtained a teaching position I encouraged him to go back to school. I could support us and he could complete a lifelong goal. All went well, and Carl soon completed his second year. At that time I discovered I was expecting. We decided to stretch Carl's $100.00 per month veteran's benefit allowance. We had a place to live rent free since we were dorm parents for young men attending college. Carl earned extra for cleaning the dorm, while I worked part time in the PR department of the college. With very little money we met all expenses. Barely!

Travel times consisted of a 300 mile trip to and from home during holidays. Both our families gathered to celebrate and we wanted to be there, especially when Scott was born. At the same time Carl took our car to Uncle Earl's garage for oil changes, brakes fixed, etc. Maybe our car was over the hill... Hmmm... See what you think.

Uncle Earl, an upstanding Kiwanis leader and down to earth Pontiac dealer, lived in a small country village in western New York. His white hair and round steel rimmed glasses perched on his leathery face gave the look of an earlier era. At the gas station, Uncle Earl would briskly approach you with a smile and hearty greeting, as he wiped grease from his hands on oily cloths. He stuck to work and business so you'd not discern he might have other things on his mind, too.

Scott was a real hit in his newborn Santa suit that first Christmas. Everyone passed him around and admired him at the family gathering around Uncle Earl's table. Following the hearty meal, Uncle Earl took Carl aside and told him he had a 1956 Pontiac station wagon - an older, one-owner in excellent shape he'd like us to have while Carl attended school.

The gift of this sturdy car, perfectly fitting our needs, truly surprised us. It replaced a vehicle extra ready for retirement. The real shock rooted from the fact that giving the car revealed a side of Uncle Earl's character unknown to us at that point.

After his death we learned that he overlooked some folks' overdue bills, actually not collecting some when he could have. Maybe he knew they were unable to pay.

Interestingly, researchers at the University of British Columbia and the Harvard Business School find that it's possible to buy happiness after all: when you spend money on others. Psychologist Abraham Maslow calls this self-actualization - people express themselves most fully when contributing something valuable to others. Generosity's the outward manifestation of strong Intrapersonal intelligence. The more you practice it, the more you rewire your brain for openhandedness.

Uncle Earl often said he wanted to live to be 100. He died in his 99th year and almost reached that birthday, vigorous, keen of mind and active till the end... As I look back and reflect today, I feel a warm spot in my heart. His life's a reminder to me to pass his generosity on to others. Uncle Earl experienced the first depression... and came through knowing how to stretch money and be generous to others at the same time. Wow!

I created this piece to contribute to Robert Hruzek's What I Learned from the Generosity of Others challenge.

Robert will collect other contributions through midnight, December 7th. Why not send him an entry of your own?