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May 8, 2016

Mind over Matter

What we put into our mind matters.  Subsequently, who we listen to impacts what we put into our mind.  There are many voices in this world telling us what to do.  When we are kids, it’s our parents.  In school it’s our teachers; as an adult, it’s someone typically we care about or find interesting.  This could be friends, employers, clients, or family.  But we always have a choice.  We control what and to whom we listen.

Some (and I’m one) would argue this life is not all there is and there’s  a higher power at work in this world.  But we still all have a choice called free will.  We can choose our thoughts and subsequent actions.  We are not bound by fate. While some people’s life choices may be more limited, our thoughts never are.  The ability to think and dream is endless.

Many may try to tell us what to think, but we each make up our own mind. Some allow others to make choices for them because they are too young, inexperienced, incapable or unwilling to choose.  But that’s still a choice.  My encouragement for all of us:  let’s not fall into that trap.  Let’s choose our own thoughts!Choose your own thoughts

What we choose to think is about how we think as discussed last week, but also about to Whom we listen.  We were all created with our own minds to reason and believe what we wish.  We don’t have to take what anyone (including me) says for granted.  Let’s use the brains we were given to think clearly and redeem our thoughts and mind.

There are ways to strengthen our mind as we have discussed these last few weeks. And there is wisdom all around us, we just need to choose wisely.  We have an innate wisdom within us guiding us, but often we may choose to let others sway our opinions or hijack our thoughts.  Let’s take back our thoughts and use them to guide us toward wellness.

Let’s choose our own thoughts to guide us to wellness #SpringintoWellness #Mind #Wellness
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It’s my passion to encourage us all to wellness in mind, body, and soul.  If you haven’t already, I hope you’ll sign up for continued MemoryMinders updates.  Here you’ll receive the latest strategies, research as well as updates on what’s new at MemoryMinders.  If you haven’t already, sign up in the blue box and you’ll receive a free reference sheet on normal age-related memory changes and some tips to help!

As we finish up our last week of the Spring into Wellness Challenge, here’s your Mindful Monday Challenge:  how will you redeem your thoughts and move toward mind wellness?  Will you try some new memory techniques or step out of your comfortable box and try new things?  Will you challenge the status quo and do what you know is best, even if not a popular choice?  Grab hold of your mind and choose what and who you listen to wisely.  Apply your brain and direct your mind to what matters to engage you mind, body, and soul to wellness!

As always, feel free to comment here or check in with me on social media for even more wellness encouragement!

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Leave a Comment • Filed Under: Attitude, Identity, Memory, Tips, Wellness Tagged With: Identity, Memory, Mindful Monday, Spring into Wellness Challenge, Strategies, wellness

May 1, 2016

When the Curve Ball Comes

Show of hands:  whose life is going precisely as planned with only good things happening?  Anyone? Anyone??  Not sure I see many hands raised.  Maybe your life is like mine and others-it doesn’t always go according to script.  The path is not always smooth and curve balls often get thrown our way.  What we do when those curve balls come makes all the difference.Life's curve balls

Have your heard the saying “life is 10% what we make it and 90% how we take it”?  Wow, that hits the mark.  Life isn’t always under our control.  But there is something we can control:  HOW we think.  Call it mindset, attitude, thinking patterns or whatever you wish, it’s about how we view the world.  And how we think stems from numerous factors.

HOW we think makes all the difference in our mind wellness #SpringintoWellness #MindfulMonday
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At MemoryMinders, we discuss these factors at length because it really impacts how well our mind and memory function.  Are we seeing the proverbial glass as half full or half empty? Some may dismiss this as feel good thinking, but there are many studies proving this to be true.  People with positive outlooks perform better cognitively, generally live longer and have a better overall perception of their life.  This clearly has an impact on not only our mind but also overall wellness.

But how can we do this if our natural bend is a glass half empty mentality?  Practice.  I will be the first person to say I don’t always see the silver lining.  In fact, I usually prepare for the worst, thinking if I’m mentally prepared it will ease the blow.  While this may be true, if I constantly live in the what if zone, I cannot fully be present and appreciate the wonderful world in front of me.

Life is about choices.  What we choose to think about matters.  And how we think directly correlates to what we put into our minds.  If all we ever put in is negative, guess what?  Negative thoughts are all we’ll have.  Negative begets negative.  And positive…., well you can complete the sentence.

I’m not advocating we only see or think about positive things.  But it is about when and if negative situations come, what our reaction will be.  I’m not always the best at this.  Ask my family; if there’s an onslaught of bad news, frustration or fatigue, my reactions are not always the most cheerful.  But I try.  This is when awareness and understanding the concept helps.  Recognizing our natural thought patterns can help us adjust, change and manage them.  But we need to be aware of what we put into our mind and how it impacts our thinking.

For this Mindful Monday, think on how you think.  What is your natural reaction when the curve balls come, the clouds roll in or life hands you a bowl of uncertainty?  If you’re not always the most positive, how can you change your reaction?  What will you do to adjust your mindset today?

Chime in with a comment here or on our social media pages and let’s choose to see our glass as half full!

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Leave a Comment • Filed Under: Attitude, Identity, Learning Styles, Research, Tips, Wellness Tagged With: Attitude, Identity, Memory, Mindful Monday, Research, Spring into Wellness Challenge, wellness

April 24, 2016

Fire up your Brain Cells!

In my never ending quest for the latest trends and ideas to help mind and memory, much comes back to the concept of use it or lose it.  The idea is this:  the more we use our brain, the more brain we have to use.  Think of it as a muscle.  While the brain isn’t muscle, the analogy applies.  The more we use our muscles, the stronger they get.  Same holds true for our brain.

The more we use our brain, the more brain we have to use! #SpringintoWellness
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When we use our brain cells, they are strengthened.  They fire, reach out to their brain cell neighbors and communicate as is their job.  But like a muscle, if we don’t use our brain cells, they can atrophy and eventually die.  This is why mental fitness and using our brain in stimulating ways each day is so important.  We want to use our brain so it’s strong when we need it!Fire Up Brain Cells

Mental fitness is one only component of mind wellness, however.  We will be discussing other components of mind wellness in the next few weeks.  But keeping our mind strong by challenging it daily is the most important. There are many ways to do this and I hope we’ll all incorporate mental fitness into our goals for this challenge!  Here are a few ways to insert some mental fitness in your day:

  1. Read aloud!  This may seem easy but try it for longer than a paragraph or two. It takes more concentration to say and think on each word as opposed to skimming or speed reading.  It utilizes more parts of your brain than silently reading as well.  We did it as kids, we did it with our kids, now do it for yourself.   Read whatever you read aloud for at least 10-15 minutes a day-you’ll see how challenging it can be!
  2. Use your non-dominant side!  Ever try writing, brushing your teeth or eating with your non-dominant hand? It’s difficult.  Your brain, like muscle, likes to do things the same way.  When you challenge yourself by doing things with your opposite hand/foot/side the brain cells have to think differently.  You will challenge a whole new set of brain cells (and muscles) by simply using your non-dominant side for simple things.  (For your safety, try this with simple things only-no sharp knife usage!)  I put my coffee/water glass on my left to remind myself to do this each day!
  3. Explore Technology!  Whatever you think of technology, it is here to stay.  So jump on board and learn new things and make your life easier and more enjoyable in the process.  Learning to use a new remote, cell phone or a computer in a new or different way are all great ways to stimulate your brain.  New brain training programs are popping up all over, too.  While these can be a fun and stimulating way to exercise your brain, they are not necessary.  There’s always something new to learn, so seek out help and give it a try!  This challenge is certainly helping me learn new computer programming skills!  I also tried a new game app this week-difficult but really got my neurons firing!
  4. Try something new!  We all have our comfort zones with food, people and even how we stimulate our brain. But when we learn something new or try a new way of doing the same thing, we exercise our brain.  New things are always difficult at first.  But this is how we grow, literally and figuratively.  So step out of that comfort into something new and feel those brain cells working!  My friend just enlightened me to a new way of playing solitaire-takes it to a whole new level-a new twist on an old favorite!

There are many more strategies than this, but as I often tell my clients let’s not make it harder than it is.  It may seem like we already knew this, but knowing and doing it are different things!   For today’s Mindful Monday challenge:  try implementing one or all of these into your day.  Don’t be surprised if your mind isn’t fatigued by the workout.  Use your brain in different ways to strengthen it and move toward mind wellness today!

Take a moment to think of some mind wellness goals for this challenge.  Here are mine:

  1. Learn or try something new each day.  Never stop learning!
  2. Focus on one thing at a time, a constant challenge for me!
  3. Be more creative in my thinking and actions-step out of my comfort zone!

Haven’t joined the Spring into Wellness Challenge yet?  Don’t delay-sign up here and challenge your mind, body and soul to wellness today!

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Leave a Comment • Filed Under: Brain fitness, Memory, Tips, Wellness Tagged With: Brain, Mental fitness, Mindful Monday, Spring into Wellness Challenge, Strategies, wellness

April 17, 2016

Maximize your Moments

Maybe it’s because I’m aging, work with older adults or have lost friends and family, but I’m increasingly aware of how limited our moments are in life.  I want to maximize my moments.  Whether it’s being able to remember better, truly enjoy or impact others in a positive way, all our moments improve when we are motivated.  Enter the Spring into Wellness Challenge!Spring into Wellness 2

Welcome to the first installment of the Spring into Wellness Challenge.  Sign up (or email me & I’ll sign you up) if you haven’t already done so to receive additional posts delivered directly to your inbox. We’ll be challenging each other for the next four weeks to a deeper level of wellness in mind, body and soul.

As I help others with their mind wellness, I clearly see a link between mind and body wellness.  But there’s a deeper component too-soul wellness.  We’ll dig into all of this and more with encouragement, tips and inspiration over the next four weeks.  It’s not too late, sign up and get ready for a challenge!

Have you ever remembered something as though it’s happened already yet you know it never has? Some call this déjà vu, but I like to think of these as mindful soul moments.  It’s one way our soul speaks to us.  This happened to me the other day and made me appreciate my amazing brain.  It remembered something which hadn’t even happened yet!

I saw a fictionalized dramatization of this on TV the other night.  A character with other worldly power to see the future was able to make others do the same. The heroes wanted to use this to prevent something bad in the future; while the scientists explained the impossibility of this.

While I understood the improbability on some level, it more importantly confirmed how this life is not all there is.  Yes, we have a certain number of moments.  But there’s more to life that any of us will ever fully realize.  One thing I am sure of is I want to make my moments count.

I try to practice what I preach as the saying goes.  I engage my mind and body towards wellness.  But I can’t predict the future and life can change in an instant.  When or if life changes, I want to be confident I maximized my moments.

So on this first Mindful Monday of the Wellness Challenge, let’s think on this:  How can we maximize our moments today?  What memories do you want to take away from this day?  Will they be all about work, to-do lists and what we HAVE to do? Certainly everyday has these types of moments.  But let’s choose to consciously make some moments memorable.

Let’s spend time with someone we care about, encourage a child or someone in need, make a new friend or step out of our comfort zones to challenge ourselves and others. These small acts create ripples into other people’s lives. Not only are we making our moments more memorable but we are doing the same for others.

Don’t live life just going through the motions-maximize your moments! #SpringintoWellness
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When consciously motivated to maximize our moments, our perspective shifts.  Life becomes about what we want to do instead of what we have to do.  We think about others more than ourselves.  We live the life we are meant to, not a life of going through the motions.

Challenge yourself today to maximize your moments. Motivate yourself and others by seeing your mind, body and soul wellness as a gift and maximize it. See if it makes a difference for you today.

Chime in below with a comment or join me on Facebook or Twitter to continue the conversation on how we can challenge ourselves and each other to maximize our moments!

Linking up with Crystal Storms at #IntentionalTuesday

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4 Comments • Filed Under: Identity, Memory, Tips, Wellness Tagged With: Attitude, Mindful Monday, Spring into Wellness Challenge

April 10, 2016

Don’t Fear; Spring into Wellness!

It’s one of the scariest things about aging:  losing control of your memory.  Especially for those who thrive on being on top of things, dementia is their biggest fear.  This fear is fueling development of many new and interesting approaches to aging. It currently impacts everything from living options to smart phones apps.  While there is no one way to prevent dementia, there are things we can all do to strengthen our minds. This is the mission of MemoryMinders-to assist us all to achieve the best possible mind wellness and quality of life possible.

It is estimated we will learn much more about the brain and its influence in our daily lives in the next decades. The continued growth in research in this area is evidence of its importance to the world community. The baby boomer generation will no doubt lead the way in maintaining mind wellness as much as body wellness as they age. The bottom line is we all need to work at mind wellness just as much as body wellness for our futures.  Our minds direct our bodies.

The brain is not separate from the body. They work in tandem to benefit our overall well-being. Just as you cannot breathe without your brain instructing your body, you cannot fully be well if you don’t consider all elements of wellness. I truly believe in addition to mind and body wellness, there is a third element: the soul, our elemental essence of being.  This is the basis of our month long series starting next Monday:  the Spring into Wellness Challenge.  We’ll explore all elements of wellness and challenge each other along the way! Spring into Wellness 2

Whether you have felt something missing in your wellness or just need encouragement to reach your goal, I hope you’ll join me!  Each Monday I’ll continue to give you mind and memory wellness ideas, strategies and tips. However, if you sign up for the challenge, you’ll receive additional emails on Wednesdays on body wellness, Thursday on soul wellness and fun weekend tips on Saturday.

Won’t you join me as we explore all the elements of wellness? Sign up here for the Spring into Wellness Challenge . Let’s challenge each other to reach our ultimate goal: being the best we can be in mind, body and soul!

Linking up with #TellItToMeTuesday

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Leave a Comment • Filed Under: Identity, Memory, Tips, Wellness Tagged With: Brain, Identity, Memory, Mindful Monday, Spring into Wellness Challenge, Strategies, wellness

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