While we are over here blogging about running and fitness, let’s not forget to exercise your mind as well. Enriching your intellect is a huge part of wellness, and the human brain can definitely benefit from “stretching” and “workouts.”
What are some ways to help exercise your mind toward more overall fitness? Check out these tips.
Travel.
When it is safe to do so (and you are comfortable), get of your bubble and explore different places. Travel helps us experience so many things to which we might not ordinarily be exposed in our hometowns and neighboring cities. Seeing other parts of the state, country, or world can open our eyes to new cultures, trends, foods, languages and customs. These expeditions, even ones we might find negative, are great teachable moments, and traveling is one of my favorite ways to fill my mind with new things.
Read.
Pick up a book, a newspaper, or a cereal box. Seriously. Read whatever you can get your hands on, whenever you can. Consume books that make you happy, articles that make you uncomfortable, stories that make you think. Reading teaches us so many things, including new ideas, lessons, and even vocabulary. It is such a valuable way to exercise your mind, and we should strive to do it as much as possible.
Get out of your echo chamber.
If you only surround yourself with similar opinions, you lose the ability to exercise your mind. Disagreements are part of life, but opening yourself to different viewpoints is both healthy and enriching, when done in a respectful fashion. The day we decide we can no longer learn from others is the day we lose our capacity for growth.
Puzzle it out.
No reason not to have fun when you exercise your mind. There are plenty of great games and brain teasers designed to help you stay sharp and keep your edge. Take on a jigsaw puzzle. Try out books of crossword puzzles, word searches or sudoku. Challenge your family to some trivia. You can even go the digital route with games like Tetris, or solitaire.
Take on a new hobby.
Hobbies can be great ways to exercise your mind. With technology today, it’s not very difficult to take an online class in a subject you’ve always wanted to study. In fact, virtual classes are becoming the new norm in these COVID times, allowing easy access to all kinds of courses. You can learn another language using apps and computer programs designed to go at your pace. Even on our busiest days, we can always take a moment to learn something new and see where it takes us.
My goal is to never stop learning, no matter what. Life is way too interesting to leave unexplored.
What is your favorite way to exercise your mind?
Welcome to Fit Five Friday, our new linkup!
We’ve got FIVE incredible co-hosts, and we are ready to link up every Friday to share YOUR weekly fitness favorites! Join My First 5K and More, Running With Attitude, Run Laugh Eat Pie, Runs with Pugs, and Zenaida every Friday for Fit Five Friday! Who’s ready for some fun?
Grab our graphic and share the love!
Great ideas! I really miss traveling, and I wish i had more time for reading and puzzles/games. I do try to read for a few minutes every night before I go to bed.
I can not wait to travel again! I do crossword puzzles in the paper daily and love the mental challenge it offers me
It’s probably no surprise that my favorite way to expand my horizons is via travel. I love learning about different cultures. I also love a good daily crossword puzzle as well as art , languages and music.
So important to never stop learning! I really cannot wait to travel again.
Sudoku is one of my favorite mind games. I also like the logic games where you’re given a few random clues then have to figure out the answer. Knitting is another favorite hobby, but I have not done it recently… planning out patterns involves a lot of math & visualization.
Great ideas! I’ve made it a goal to read more this year. I used to read all the time but I got so bad at it once technology took over.
I miss traveling so much! I can’t wait until it’s safe to do it again. I love Words with Friends and Sudoku. I hope it keeps my mind young.
Debbie recently posted…Are you an Injured Runner? Here are 6 Tips to Stay Fit (and Sane)
I love doing puzzles. They let me use my brain in a different way than i do for work.
These are so great. I really want to read more. I’m going to make that a priority this year. Generally speaking I’m a traveller and love new languages and cultures. Music and language are usually how I exercise my mind. I was doing great learning Italian and then I bought a house… LOL. So now I can start over again.
I am almost always taking some kind of course! Of course sometimes it also feels as though my brain’s gonna explode!
Chocolaterunsjudy recently posted…Running is silly!
That’s the best! No matter what, we can’t let ourselves stop learning!
I cannot wait to travel again! I have a few places I would like to visit once it is safe to do so. I enjoy reading too. I just finished reading “The Silent Patient” and have two more books waiting for me at the library.
Same same same! I just started The Sanatorium. So far, so good! I need to add to my to-be-read stack in short order.
I love to read. That’s my favorite. I like crossword puzzles. I used to do them more often but now usually on trains and planes to pass the time. I also enjoy knitting…used to be quilting but that was too time consuming.
I agree about the brain.. They say Use it or Lose it!!