My Aunt Millie could balance an egg on its end on the summer Solstice. She insisted that everyone could do it, but only on that day. As kids, we could never manage it at all. As an adult, I looked it up, and sure enough, you should be able to do this; BUT on any day, not just on the Solstice… Aunt Millie was tricking us!
Working on our balance helps to keep our brains healthy. In honor of National Alzheimer’s Month, today, we’ll talk about a few simple daily practices that can help keep the Dementia Demon away from our doorstep.
Balance poses work the same part of the brain used for memory and concentration, so try adding a balance pose like Tree into your daily routine. I’ve added a video below on how to do Tree pose. Modifications are included, so don’t be afraid to try.
Another simple technique: brushing your teeth with your non-dominant hand. It’s a bit awkward at first, but after a while it becomes much easier. This helps your brain make a new pathway and prune out the old one. After a couple of months, try switching hands halfway through so you are now using both hands at different times; makes another new pathway! After a while you can attempt to hum a song while brushing your teeth. Using two different senses has also been shown to improve cognition, and what simpler and easier to remember way is there than humming while doing something you have done every day for your whole life?
Meditating is one of the best things you can do to help your brain function better. One type of meditation in particular, Kirtan Kriya, has quite a bit of science behind it which shows that people who do it every day have improved cerebral blood flow, increased grey matter, and improved telomerase activity. Telomerase slows down the process of cellular aging, which makes this an important finding for all of us.
The Alzheimer’s Prevention Organization now recommends Kirtan Kriya meditation as an all-natural preventative for the disease, and five recent studies have shown that it improves impaired memory and cognitive skills as well. It takes only twelve minutes a day, and who doesn’t have twelve minutes for Alzheimer’s prevention each day?
So, for only a few minutes a day investment and a better quality of life to gain – what are you waiting for? Sign up HERE now and I’ll teach you Kirtan Kriya. You get two lessons, which can be done in person or remotely on Facetime or Skype, and an mp3 recording of the routine so that you can practice with me daily.
Try these ideas and let’s all do everything we can to reduce our chances of getting dementia!
Best of Health,
Kathi
1 Comment