Want to Have Fun and Sharpen Your Brain?

Hold on to your hat because beginning Oct. 13th, through Election Day, November 3rd, Mercury will be retrograde. Communication breaks down, as well as appliances, and Murphy’s Law rules. This has already been a tough year so I’m well aware that no one wants to hear this, but to be forewarned is to be forearmed. We can do this!

Stress can make you feel like your brains are scrambled, you can’t focus, or remember anything. Here are 13 Brain Exercises to sharpen your mental abilities, according to healthline.com. Various parts of the brain get accessed, depending upon which you choose.

Pick your favorites or change them up to stay engaged in activities that support your mental acuity. (Spoiler Alert! Many of these involve my 10 Keys to Nourish Body, Mind, & Soul.)
1. Jigsaw Puzzles (We naturally gravitated toward them at the start of the pandemic!)
2. Play cards (solitaire, bridge, poker, etc.)
3. Build your vocabulary (write words and definitions in a notebook and use your new words in conversation)
4. Dance (and also learn short dance sequences online)
5. Increase awareness of Sensory Experiences (be mindful of what you see, hear, smell, taste and touch)
6. Learn a new skill (what is something you always wished you could do?)
7. Teach someone else a skill (you have to know how to do it and then explain it in order to teach it)
8. Listen to music (or play an instrument)
9. Take a new route when walking or driving (and change up mundane routines)
10. Meditate (find stillness)
11. Learn a new language (thinking in two languages exercises your mind as you switch back and forth)
12. Do Tai Chi for the mind/body interplay
13. Focus on another person. Choose 4 things to observe about a person, remember, and then later record. Example, color of their hair, do they wear glasses or not? Do they have facial hair? etc.)
Let’s add one more: Remember to stay enchanted!