A sharp mind and keen memory are great assets. But sadly, as you grow older, the brain shrinks, affecting your memory and your mind function.
Luckily, there are plenty of hobbies you can start to sharpen your mind and slow down this process.
Want to know more about hobbies you can take up to improve your memory and brain, keep reading.
1. Music
Studies have shown that taking music lessons helps to grow your brain and boost it when you are older.
Learning a new instrument, vocal coaching, or singing new songs will make your brain bigger, literally.
The bonus is that learning a new skill raises your self-worth, increasing your chances of honing your mind.
As if that’s not enough, musical skills improve your IQ, making you better at reading and math. It’s a great hobby to get your kids flexing those brain muscles from an early age.
Albert Einstein played the piano and violin from a very young age, and we all know how that story turned out.
2. Language Learning
Not only can learning a new language open doors to jobs, but it also helps you stay focused. Scientists have said that people who speak many languages are more intelligent and their brain takes longer to age.
Being bi or trilingual has the added benefit of reducing your chances of getting dementia in old age. When your brain learns to switch between languages with ease, you become better at task and time management. Brainpower right there!
If you’ve been hesitating to start those French lessons, it would be a great idea to get on it now.
3. Exercise
A great body is a welcome by-product of exercise, but that’s not the only thing it can do for you. Exercising increases your focus and your concentration.
Scientists have found that exercise helps the brain by producing a certain protein in the body that contributes to boosting memory and focus.
A regular jog or Pilates class has been linked to better leadership and increased creativity.
Get started on your daily morning jog; you’ll thank me later!
4. Intensified Learning
Learn a new skill every so often. Research has shown that distinctive styles of learning use distinct parts of the brain. By learning something new every week, you actively involve all the parts of your mind, improving your ability to recall.
Keep learning something new. Once you know how to do something, your brain doesn’t work as hard at it; therefore, it doesn’t help as much.
The beauty of intense learning is that it keeps your mind on its toes. The more you learn, the more it grows.
5. Creative Arts
Using your brain to create new things helps to improve your focus and subsequently, your memory. It doesn’t hurt that it also brightens your mood. Drawing, painting, or any other creative art requires concentration.
While you pay attention to your creation, your brain stays engaged, stimulating the parts that help to retain memory.
By letting your creativity out and expressing yourself, you give your mind an outlet and therapy. The relaxing feeling will help you concentrate more.
You don’t have to be Picasso or Shakespeare to let out your inner creativity – Just start.
6. Play Games
Playing games that require thinking or strategy, such as chess, helps your brain make new connections improving the way it functions in the process. This also enhances your reasoning and problem-solving skills.
Playing team games like soccer will give you the added reward of socialization. Social skills alone are powerful in protecting the brain.
Even videogames can help increase your working memory and can help you practise the skill of making on the fly decisions. Playing video games could become a great hobby that will come in handy when faced with those high-pressure decisions.
7. Reading
Most books and comics maintain the same characters but have different actions and stories. By reading these, you exercise the part of your brain that handles the development of patterns.
You improve interpretation skills and build upon what you already know. This increases the development of the part of your brain that recalls information.
The more you read, the more developed these links in your brain become, enhancing your memory and brain function.
If you find reading boring, you can try listening to audiobooks for the same effect.
8. Learn Martial Arts
Martial arts are a great way to bring your mind and body in tune with each other.
A healthy mind and a healthy body are two sides of the same coin. Plus, the challenge itself will increase the effort your brain needs to put in.
This will help push it to achieve more.
9. Travel
New experiences and environments feed more information into the brain, activating it to understand more and develop more.
It can also be very relaxing, making you happier and in turn, allowing your brain to focus more.
Physical travel may not be possible, but virtual travel is a great option you could try.
10. Bead Art
Using beads to create jewelry, handbags, or ornaments in different shapes and colors is a great brain hobby.
Seeing how the beads come together, how to interconnect the colors will help the part of your brain that forms patterns and sees how things connect.
This will strengthen your memory center. What’s more, you become better at paying attention to detail.
11. Meditation and Yoga
Spiritual aspects aside, mindful meditation and yoga help you to become more aware of the present to gain better control of external influences on your mind.
This helps to calm your mind, which scientists have said changes brain structure and improves the way your brain works.
Conclusion
Picking just one hobby or as many as you can find time for, is a great step towards molding your brain into a stronger force.
Hobbies should never feel like work, find things that you love to do, and reap the long-term benefits of brain and memory improvement.
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