Well-Being for Your Mind

Well-being for your MIND

Put out the cigarettes!

Smoking is bad for your heart and blood vessels, making it harder for blood to flow to your brain. Smoking leads not just to cancer, but is considered a risk factor for developing dementia and Alzheimer’s.

Practice mindful meditation

Meditation is both a stress management and brain-boosting tool. Research shows even a few minutes a day lowers stress, inflammation and depression—and improves memory, mood and even your genes!

Reduce stress and anxiety

Using breath to meditate is the easiest, cheapest and most portable tool we have to control stress and anxiety each day. Oxygenating your blood while evenly matching the length of your inhale to that of your exhale can relax you quickly.

Get a cognitive baseline

It’s important to identify early in life whether your cognitive health is declining. So talk to your doctor about getting a cognitive test as a regular part of your check-up.

Laugh a little

-or better yet, make someone else laugh. Studies have shown that humor can relieve stress, help stimulate your immune system and even reduce pain.

Stay positive

Science tells us there is a strong link between “positivity” and health, and that those who have a positive attitude improve outcomes and life satisfaction across a spectrum of conditions— including heart and brain health issues. Then there’s the very real fact that a conscious decision to focus on the positive helps us recognize the joy, beauty and grace in our lives.

Take a silent walk

You can observe all that is around you, giving you space to breathe fresh air. Research shows that spending time in nature lowers cortisol, a stress hormone, and is linked with longer life in women.