6 Cs : Healthy Aging Brain — This Old Brain

by Mike Kirkeberg

I was once going to start a website and call it ‘Braintenance‘ because of my interest in staying sharp with an aging brain. I couldn’t remember for sure why I didn’t. I now realize it was because the name was already taken. So this article will have to do for the moment. Here’s a primer on brain maintenance.

6 Cs for a Successful Aging Brain

You’ll notice that your brain is attached to your neck and then to your body. That’s important because neither the body or the brain exist in a vacuum. What happens to one happens to the other.

Conditioning.
I am writing from the US and I learned this morning that citizens of the United States lag behind a number of other countries in exercise. We walk about 5000 steps a day on average. Australia, Switzerland, and Japan are stepping much better than we. They eek up near 10,000 steps a day. Walking is an aerobic exercise so it streams oxygen throughout the bloodstream and aids in the production of new brain cells, the maintenance of old, and even lifts the mood. As we become fitter and more conditioned, so do our brains.

By the way, 10,000 steps is about 5 miles.

Connection.
One of the many ‘intelligences’ that has been written about over the past few years is social intelligence. We crave connection with others. Looking at this through the eyes of evolution, it makes a lot of sense. Over the millennia, survival itself often depended on the support of the group. The group, the community, the tribe helps us through troubled times. When we connect with other people, at the risk of seeming corny -

“You go from being a stranger to including this person in the self, so you suddenly have all of these social roles and identities you didn’t have before,” explains Dr. Aron, who co-authored the research. “When people fall in love that happens rapidly, and it’s very exhilarating.” The Happy Marriage is the Me Marriage

Connection means a lot. There is more to it than that, though, which brings us to the next C.

Conversation.
The article cited above also mentions the idea of learning through relationships. We get into them, it goes on, to expand ourselves, to grow, and to flourish. This happens through conversation. Conversations make more of ourselves, and in the interim, grow new brain connections.

Challenge.
Challenge takes on two meanings here. First, studies of people who lived to, and stayed mentally sharp until they were 100 tended to take the problems of life as challenges. They saw the glass as half full. The second, and I believe most important meaning I am giving challenge here may have more to do with brain health. I invite you to challenge yourself.

Contemplation.
Mindfulness, Integrative Body Mind Training, Tai Chi, or communing with nature (another form of meditation) all help to grow brain, help us slow things down a bit, and also help us be more response-able – we react less. Here’s the simple bonus of at least two of these – mindfulness and Integrative Body Mind Training – produce measurable effects within a week.

Choices.
Whatever becomes of our brains is based significantly on the choices we make. These choices may be around the food we eat, what we drink or smoke, and how many and much of the Cs listed above we choose to do.