How to exercise the brain.

Whether you're trying to get your brain back in shape or just want to keep it as strong as it is now, not only is it easy to train it, but it's now seen as part of what makes aging so much more graceful and less forgetful. Wake up those neurons in your skull and put them to work with wikiHow!

Part 1: Improve your reasoning and speaking skills:

One: Read as much as possible. Reading is a great basic brain exercise. You can read newspapers, magazines, or books, but just keep in mind that the more challenging the text, the more training your brain will receive. As with any exercise, start from less to more.

Two: Increase your vocabulary. Learn new words from a calendar with the word of the day or a dictionary. This exercises the language part of your brain.

Three: Write something. Writing requires a lot of thinking! You can write made-up stories, write down the things that happened to you, or write articles for wikiHow on the topics you know and love.

Four: Learn a new language. Learning a language is like a hack for your brain that opens all kinds of avenues. This exercises the part of your brain that stores language information, even making you better at speaking your own language. 

Five: Solve later problems. Consider the different possibilities of how something in your day could have gone and studied the consequences. This improves creativity and causes you to a far better solver.

Six: Turn off the television. Television tells you what to think and how to think, it basically puts your brain on the automatic pole. This is why it is so relaxing! If you want to prevent your brain from stagnating, the first thing you have to do is turn off the television. If you really want to watch TV, use your brain while doing it. Choose to watch educational shows and if you watch popular shows, choose those with complex storylines or character interactions. Think about this as you watch and try to analyze or guess what happens next.

Part 2: Play games to improve your brain:

One: Do crosswords and puzzles daily. Simple puzzles like crosswords can help your brain do some basic work. They are easy to "fit" into your day, and you can even find some for free online.

Two: Progress to more difficult puzzles. Large and complex puzzles give your brain a stronger workout. Sometimes they can take several days or a week to resolve, but it is worth the effort. This is not simply a puzzle in the traditional sense. Take a look at the Japanese pocket puzzles to give your mind a real challenge that you can solve while killing time.

Three: Consider playing chess. Chess is an incredibly strategic and tactical game. Few puzzles beat chess in exercising your brain. In addition, it is very easy to learn and play.

Four: Play video games. Did you know that video games really make you smarter? Puzzle-solving games like Mario, Zelda, Scribblenauts, and Myst are like a good cardio session for your brain, helping you to be a more creative and effective problem solver and a quick thinker. 

Part 3: Challenge yourself::

One: Change your dominant hand. Use your left hand if you are right-handed and vice versa to stimulate the parts of your brain that control your muscles.

Two: Play a musical instrument or play with a Rubik's cube (also known as a “magic cube”). For more than 100,000 years the human brain has evolved to improve itself through the manufacture and use of tools. By doing things that are similar to using tools, you help your brain improve and keep it on track. For example, playing the violin or solving the Rubik's Cube has things in common with making and using tools. Both require the use of gross motor skills, fine motor skills, and sequences of functioning and identifying things. Therefore, doing these types of activities daily or twice a day should help you keep your brain in good shape.

Part 4: Socialize more:

One: Talk to people. Talk to people about things that you or they know. Talking about politics, religion, or other challenging topics - having real discussions, not just arguments - can be great basic brain training.

Two: Join an interest group. Join a group or club with the same interests as you. This could be a hobby club, a political group, a bible discussion group, or something similar. Talking to people with similar interests will make you use your brain and your skills.

Part 5: Make learning lifelong:

One: Go back to school. Going back to school is a great way to get your brain working again, and more education has obvious benefits. You don't even need to have a title. Your employer may be willing to help you fund classes that improve your job skills, or you can just take a single class on a topic that interests you.

Two: Take free classes. If you just don't have the money or time, there are also a number of free classes available online. Some are even from the best universities, like Harvard. Try Coursera, Khan Academy, or even just Ted Talks for the free college experience.

Three: Frequently use skills you have already earned. Your brain works much the same as your muscles: either you use it or you lose it. The longer you go without using information and knowledge, the rustier it gets. Use your basic skills (like doing math) frequently in order to keep them fresh and ready to go.

Four: Pick a new hobby. Learning a new skill is also a great way to give your brain a workout. Creative skills, especially music, dance, and the visual arts, will exercise different parts of your brain and have incredible benefits.

Five: Build things. Whether you're building robots or a new bench for your hallway, using your brain to figure out how to do something (especially when starting from scratch without instructions) is great training. Learn some basic building skills and then warm up your brain for some hands-on creativity.

Part 6: Stay healthy:

One: Eat right and exercise. Diet and exercise actually play an important role in the health of your brain. If you want to keep your brain in peak condition, eat a healthy diet rich in protein and omega 3 fatty acids to keep your brain physically fueled. Physical exercise can also keep your body healthy, reducing the risk of stroke and increasing oxygen saturation levels.

Two: Play sports. Learn exercises or how to play new games to increase your hand-eye and body coordination. Tai-chi and pinball are two examples of this.

Three: Sleep well. Scientists have found that sleep actually plays an absolutely vital role in maintaining a healthy brain. While you sleep, your body flushes toxins from your brain (in addition to making repairs). If you want to protect your brain, make sure you get a full night's sleep as often as possible.

Four: Change your routine. Try to go to work with varied routes to avoid making your brain feel too neglected as a result of a monotonous day. You can also change the way you work by adding an exercise ball or other factors to the way you work.

Tips

When you exercise, try walking backward (in the reverse direction of the normal walking pattern) to make fun of the brain sphere.

Remember to exercise your body. A healthy mind is the result of a healthy body. Get a lot of physical exercises!

Try doing a couple of things regularly, like memorizing something each day or using a Rubik's cube for 15 minutes a day.

There are tons of programs that will help you with your memory. "Brain Age" or "Big Brain Academy" for the Nintendo DS are highly recommended and fun. These games were made specifically to improve your memory.