Life, Health & Home


To Remember More: Keep Your Brain Fit by Chance Massaro


powcom@sonic.net


SANTA ROSA, CA. ~ Everyone knows what it means to be fit in the body. Now we are learning the components of Brain Fitness. Brain fitness brings more than just remembering people’s names and where the keys are.


It means we


have increased curi- osity, elevated abili- ties to solve new and complex problems and increased ability to carry on an intelligent conversation.


us the right kinds of fats and amino acids we need. As we age (and as we study as a younger person) we are generally not


breathing as


deeply (and exhal- ing as completely) as the body needs. If you sit a lot take breathing breaks every hour: fill the lungs completely


Brain


fitness leads to having a brain span which will outlast our life span.


There are four contributors to


brain fitness: care and creative use of the body; care and chal- lenging use of the mind; engag- ing and empowered involvement with other people and developing one’s own spirit. The body and brain need lots of the right foods (a heart healthy diet is a brain healthy diet), lots of water and lots of oxygen. Bananas and oranges provide the potassium that the nerves need to function optimally. Nuts give


and hold for a few seconds, then exhale as completely as possible three or four times. Moving in new and creative ways tends to awaken and integrate the whole brain


Repetitious learning (espe- cially about the function of the brain) tends to build up synaptic potential in the hippocampus giv- ing rise to greater short and long term memory.


Learning new


puzzles and games is also very beneficial. If you are really good at a particular game or puzzle, try something else!


Talk with people! Talk with dif- ferent people. Talk with people


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with whom you disagree. Talk


with people you don’t like. Most of us tend to talk with the same people about the same things. This becomes as stultifying as talking to yourself can be. You know we can have as many as 1000 thoughts an hour and 985 of them we’ve thought before! But if you’re asking penetrating new questions and being asked inter- esting and challenging questions, your brain will respond by using dendrites which may be lying dormant (waiting to atrophy). Some of the best penetrat- ing and challenging questions we can be involved with have to do with our personal spirit. Often when we think of spirit, we think of something outside ourselves. The spirit we refer to here is YOURS. It’s so close to us we rarely acknowledge it.


One creation myth says that the gods wanted to hide the secret of the universe from humans so we would not become gods.


They


thought of high mountains and deep oceans but knew humans would eventually go to those places.


the place humans would never look was in their own heart.


Then they realized that It


is there that we delve to bring our own spirit into the rewarding game of brain fitness. You can begin to discover your own spirit by first concentrating on those things we love, admire and find beautiful.


The penetrating and challenging questions we ask of our hearts can be difficult to answer. And they are always rewarding. Try it today! Ask yourself how it feels to be in love, what is the experi- ence of awe, what do gratitude


...Continued on next page 50% off


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18 • February 2013 • UPBEAT TIMES Attention All Chefs!


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UPBEAT TIMES • February 2013 • 18 Upbeat Book JOKES & Humor # 8 ...Continued from page 3


It had been snowing for hours when an announcement came over the intercom:


"Will the students who are parked on University Drive please move their cars so that we may begin plowing."


Twenty minutes later there was another announcement:


Road,” Ralston said. “Since first


coming to Sonoma


County in 1996, physicians at Sutter Health hospitals have delivered 40,000+ babies each year.


This project will rec- ognize all those born locally, whether at a Sutter Health facility or elsewhere in the county.”


The new Sutter Medical Center in Santa Rosa will fea- ture the next generation Labor and Delivery birthing center including obstetrics, nursery care and a “Level III” neona- tal intensive care unit (NICU). All hospital rooms will be pri- vate. Maternity suites will be equipped with wireless inter- net access, hot tub hydrother- apy, 32-inch flat panel TVs, on-demand room service, beds for spouses and a host of other amenities to make each mother’s stay extraordinarily comfortable.


What a great time to be a Sonoma County baby! The book will also cover local history, landmarks, and our eclectic citizens (including civic/business leaders, farm- ers, inventors, law enforce- ment, authors, actors, teach- ers,


"Will the nine hundred stu- dents who went to move fourteen cars please return to class."


A sweet little boy surprised his grandmother one morning and brought her a cup of cof- fee. He made it himself and was so proud. He anxiously waited to hear the verdict on the quality of the coffee. The grandmother had never in her life had such a bad cup of coffee, and as she forced down the last sip she noticed three of those little green army guys in the bottom of the cup.


~


She asked, "Honey, why would three little green army guys be in the bottom of my cup?"


Her grandson replied, "You know grandma, it's like on TV, 'The best part of waking up is soldiers in your cup.'"


construction workers, vintners, doctors, celebrities, etc.) that help shape the rich tapestry and quality of life in Sonoma County. The book will be available in stores, online and gifted to parents of newborn Sonoma County Babies delivering at the new Sutter Medical Center, which opens in October 2014.


Real joy comes not from ease or riches or from the praise of men, but from doing something worthwhile.


Wilfred Grenfell Dare to reach out your hand into the darkness, to pull another hand into the light. ~Norman B. Rice


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