Why doing absolutely nothing is good for you
- How to have the brain of a 25 year old
- Why doing absolutely nothing is good for you
- Revealed, the 15 minute ZERO IMPACT workout that makes you feel younger
Hi
You can’t always stop the ravages of time…
The wrinkles, the crinkles, the slowing metabolism, the flabby bits…
…In these letters I do my best to pass on information that can help you avoid many of the “avoidable” aspects of ageing, but sometimes these things will happen.
However, when it comes to how old you feel, then there are real, proven ways you can turn back the clock.
See, your brain is a strange and complex organ.
It can be recharged, reset and even improved – if you know some of the techniques and tricks.
Obviously, using your brain a lot helps – examples include learning an instrument, new skill or new language, creating art, doing puzzles, committing poems to memory or studying for a qualification.
Use it or LOSE it, as they say.
But here’s something that might please you….
Why doing absolutely nothing is also good for your brain
Yes, I know this sounds odd but new research has just shown that it is possible for a 50-year-old to have the brain health of 25-year-old by taking time out each day to do absolutely zilch.
You simply sit down in a quiet space and stare at a wall for quarter of an hour very day.
Done every day, this simple action will not only give you a sharper mind, but will also help lower stress and anxiety, reduce feelings of pain and give you better sleep.
Bear in mind, this is a ZERO impact therapy. So you can do this however old you are, however fit you are, and even if you have serious mobility problems.
Let me take a step back and explain a bit more about it.
How to have the brain of a 25 year old
A neuroscientist named Sara Lazar has done some research into meditation.
She has discovered that those who regularly practise it have more grey matter in their frontal cortex – the area of the brain linked to decision-making and working memory.
Your frontal cortex shrinks as you age… which most people take as inevitable but that’s not the case at all.
This process of shrinkage can be slowed, stopped or even reversed if you meditate for at least 15 minutes each day.
And that doesn’t mean learning some obscure transcendental mystical technique – or sitting atop a Tibetan mountain for year – it really can mean sitting in silence, staying very still, and just staring at a wall, letting thoughts run through your mind, but not fixing your attention on them.
It’s not as hard as you think…
But what is hard is having the discipline to set aside time each day, particularly if you are a busy person with lots of family and work commitments.
However, if you can build it into your routine, the results can be remarkable…
In her study, Lazar found that daily meditation gave the 50 year old subjects brains much more like a 25 years, without that shrinking of the frontal cortex.
Doing just eight weeks of meditation caused a development of this and several other key parts of the brain, including:
- The left hippocampus – responsible for learning, memory, and emotions
- The temporoparietal junction (TPJ) – responsible for empathy and the ability to have different perspectives on a matter
- The pons – an area of the brain stem that generates regulatory neurotransmitters
The result is not only a sharper, more youthful mind, but improvements in stress, depression, insomnia and anxiety.
As I say, you just need 15 minutes a day of stillness, for 8 weeks, and you’ll get results.
What’s more this remedy is absolutely safe and 100% free.
Who can argue with that?
There is another way you can refresh your ageing brain, too.
How sleep helps shed toxins from your brain
In 2013, the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) conducted some research which showed that during sleep your brain cleanses itself of toxic molecules.
It’s all thanks to the ‘glymphatic system’ which lets fluids flow around your brain and is most active when you’re asleep. Your glial cells control the flow through this system, by shrinking or swelling. When you sleep, they allow more fluids to come sluicing around your brain, cleaning out toxins.
Research published in Science in 2014 backed this up. They found that when you sleep, your brain goes through a series of massive cellular changes as it deals with the information you received when you were awake.
Professor Wen-Biao Gan, of New York University, said of his study: “We have shown how sleep helps neurons form very specific connections on dendritic branches that may facilitate long-term memory.”
So if you’d like to feel younger, sharper and more with it, then getting enough sleep is crucial.
Obviously, meditation helps, but you can also get your brain into a sleepy state by taking magnesium.
For instance, on the shop there’s a magnesium formula especially for this – click here to find out about Together Health Night Time Marine Magnesium.
It contains 5 forms of natural magnesium as well as Griffonia extract, which provides natural 5-HTP to increase production of melatonin and hasten the onset of sleep.
Really worth considering if you want to get a better night’s rest without resorting to sleeping tablets.
Anyway, whatever you do, see if you can find a quiet space to sit for 15 minutes each day, and see what happens over the next couple of months.
Do report back if you try it, as I’d love to hear if has made a difference.
