Brain fitness has basic principles: variety and curiosity. When anything you do becomes second nature, you need to make a change. If you can do the crossword puzzle in your sleep, it's time for you to move on to a new challenge in order to get the best workout for your brain. Curiosity about the world around you, how it works and how you can understand it will keep your brain working fast and efficiently. Use the ideas below to help attain your quest for mental fitness.

    1. Play Games

    Brain fitness programs and games are a wonderful way to tease and challenge your brain. Suduko, crosswords and electronic games can all improve your brain's speed and memory. These games rely on logic, word skills, math and more. These games are also fun. You'll get benefit more by doing these games a little bit every day -- spend 15 minutes or so, not hours.

    2. Meditation

    Daily meditation is perhaps the single greatest thing you can do for your mind/body health. Meditation not only relaxes you, it gives your brain a workout. By creating a different mental state, you engage your brain in new and interesting ways while increasing your brain fitness.

    3. Eat for Your Brain

    Your brain needs you to eat healthy fats. Focus on fish oils from wild salmon, nuts such as walnuts, seeds such as flax seed and olive oil. Eat more of these foods and less saturated fats. Eliminate transfats completely from your diet. 

    4. Tell Good Stories

    Stories are a way that we solidify memories, interpret events and share moments. Practice telling your stories, both new and old, so that they are interesting, compelling and fun. Some basic storytelling techniques will go a long way in keeping people's interest both in you and in what you have to say. 

    5. Turn Off Your Television

    The average person watches more than 4 hours of television everyday. Television can stand in the way of relationships, life and more. Turn off your TV and spend more time living and exercising your mind and body.

    6. Exercise Your Body To Exercise Your Brain

    Physical exercise is great brain exercise too. By moving your body, your brain has to learn new muscle skills, estimate distance and practice balance. Choose a variety of exercises to challenge your brain.

    7. Read Something Different

    Books are portable, free from libraries and filled with infinite interesting characters, information and facts. Branch out from familiar reading topics. If you usually read history books, try a contemporary novel. Read foreign authors, the classics and random books. Not only will your brain get a workout by imagining different time periods, cultures and peoples, you will also have interesting stories to tell about your reading, what it makes you think of and the connections you draw between modern life and the words. 
    
    8. Learn a New Skill

    Learning a new skill works multiple areas of the brain. Your memory comes into play, you learn new movements and you associate things differently. Reading Shakespeare, learning to cook and building an airplane out of toothpicks all will challenge your brain and give you something to think about. 

    9. Make Simple Changes

    We love our routines. We have hobbies and pastimes that we could do for hours on end. But the more something is 'second nature,' the less our brains have to work to do it. To really help your brain stay young, challenge it. Change routes to the grocery store, use your opposite hand to open doors and eat dessert first. All this will force your brain to wake up from habits and pay attention again. 

    10. Train Your Brain

    Brain training is becoming a trend. There are formal courses, websites and books with programs on how to train your brain to work better and faster. There is some research behind these programs, but the basic principles are memory, visualization and reasoning. Work on these three concepts everyday and your brain will be ready for anything. 

    大腦健康的基本原則是:保持多樣化與好奇心.不論做何事一旦成了習慣,就需要改改了.假如你可能在睡醒后做縱橫填字游戲,如果把這段時間換做其它求解式游戲,那么大腦會得到更好的鍛練.對周圍世界的好奇心越強,對事物理解就越深刻,大腦反映越快,效率也越高.采用下述10種健腦法,會使你的大腦更健康.

    1.玩游戲

    玩健腦游戲是向大腦挑戰的最好方式.縱橫填數字游戲,縱橫填字游戲,電子游戲都能使大腦更敏捷,記憶力更強.這些游戲都是運用邏輯分析能力,語言能力,數學能力及其它更多方面的能力. 玩這些游戲能也給人帶來了樂趣.通過游戲也會使人獲得更多的好處-每天玩大約15分鐘即可,不要花費過多時間.

    2.冥想

    每天靜坐冥想也許是唯一一種最有益身心健康的方法.冥想不僅放松了身體,同時也鍛煉了大腦.由于營造了一種與往不同的心理狀態,因此在增進大腦健康的同時,也使大腦處于一種非常有益的新狀態.

    3.為大腦的健康而吃

    大腦需要有益健康的脂肪,注意多吃野生魚油如大馬哈魚油,堅果類如胡桃,種子類如亞麻子,植物油類如橄欖油,吃少量來自肉類與乳類的飽和脂肪.杜絕攝入反式脂肪酸(注:這種反式脂肪酸是高血脂的真正罪魁禍首。其存在于植物性奶油、馬鈴薯片、沙拉醬、餅干以及薯條等食物中.)

    4.講引人入盛的好故事

    講故事是鞏固記憶的一種方法,在講故事的同時,講故事的人也有所收獲.通過講故事,不論新老故事,聽的人都會感興趣,注意傾聽,同時也帶來樂趣.講故事時如果采用一些簡單的技巧,會使聽故事的人注視講故事的人并全神貫注地聽故事.

    5.離開電視機

    一般來說平均每人每天看電視的時間均超過4小時. 看電視過多會妨礙人際交往,日常生活與其它許多方面.關掉電視機,把更多的時間用于日常生活與身心的鍛煉.

    6.借助體育運動鍛煉大腦

    體育運動同時大腦也得到了鍛煉.通過肢體運動,大腦也學會了控制肌肉的新技巧,增強了判斷距離的能力和保持肢體平衡的技巧.應選擇多種運動方式來鍛煉大腦.

    7.閱讀不同類型的書籍

    書籍具有攜帶方便,借閱免費的特點.書中有許多有趣的人物、知識與故事.通過閱讀各類書籍擴大了知識面. 如果經常閱讀歷史方面的書籍,試試改讀一下當代小說.讀些外國人寫的書,讀些名著,讀些隨機遇到的書.通過對不同時期的故事情節,文化背景,和各類人物的聯想,不僅豐富了頭腦,而且也能把你讀到的那些有趣的故事講給別人,這些故事會使你產生聯想,發現書本知識與現實生活之間的聯系

    8. 學習一門新技能

    學習一門新技能會使大腦更多區域參與活動.頭腦中的舊記憶也會發揮積極的作用,你掌握了一套新動作,也發現了不同的新舊事物之間的聯系.讀莎士比亞的著作,學習烹飪,用牙簽做飛機,所有這些都鍛煉了大腦,促進了大腦思考.

    9.改變習慣

    人們都喜歡按常規辦事.都有各自的興趣愛好與娛樂方式,而且可以幾個小時不間斷.但是人們習慣性動作越多,大腦參與的活動就越少.為了讓大腦保持青春狀態就要刺激它.改變去付食店的路線,改用另一只手開門,吃飯時改為先吃餐后吃的甜點與水果.所有這些都會把大腦從習慣中喚醒,重新充滿活力.

    10. 做大腦訓練

    訓練大腦正在變成一種趨勢.有各種正式的課程,各種相關的網站與各種相關的書籍,所有這些都是有關于如何訓練大腦,使大腦保持最佳狀態與最敏捷狀態的內容.有些學術研究落后于現狀,但是大腦訓練的基本原則都是訓練提高記憶力,想像力和推理的能力.每天訓練這三個能力,會使你的大腦對遇到的任何事情都應付自如.