We exercise our body regularly to stay in shape physically but have we ever paid attention to staying fit mentally? The mind needs to be flexed in order to remain active, improve your creativity and boost your memory. As with any exercise, repetition is necessary for you to see improvement. Try doing some mentalrobics (mind exercises) everyday. Once you continue with them for a while, youll notice astonishing results.
As we know, the two hemispheres of the brain think in different ways. The left brain tends to be logical and analytical, while the right brain tends to be more creative and spontaneous. Both types of thinking are valuable and one must try to develop their skills in both. Unfortunately left brained thinking is given more importance and value in the society and workplace. Rarely are people encouraged to think creatively and explore alternate solutions.
This over emphasis becomes problematic when students move into the professional world. For any new project to be started, the ideas must be clearly defined and understood (left brained). But as it progresses, more creativity is required to make it effective (right brained).Our minds are constantly filtering and processing the data so that we do not have to pay attention to everything. Your consciousness is presented with only the relevant data that you need, to make decisions. Small details are often ignored. For example, do you know which color is on top of the traffic signal lights? Or which side is Gandhiji facing on a 10 rupee note?
Whenever you are free, try to notice something that you normally wouldnt. Focus on an object and try to see all the minute details and recognize that it was made that way for a reason. Sometimes art students are made to bend over and look at the world upside down. This different orientation gives a new perspective to look at things.
Here are some simple ways to improve the balance and coordination between both sides:
Left Brain workouts:
Write: The process that goes behind crafting the right sentence structure to perfecting spelling and grammar is one of the best ways to enhance both your logical as well as your creative side. This can be done by blogging, social networking or simply writing down something in your book.Involve yourself in logic fuelled activities such as crosswords, Sudoku, Math problems or a game of chess. Try and crack reasoning or aptitude tests that are freely available online to boost your grey cells.Learn a new skill, activity or language.READ that book, don't skim. Reading engages your mind wonderfully while skimming content and running your eyes through a page only weakens the left brain in the long run.
Right Brain work outs:
Take five minutes off to minutely observe your room or deskspace. Remember the details with your eyes closed, and for authentic results, record yourself while at it so you know where you stand. Doing this regularly will strengthen your powers of observation and develop photographic memory.Word association, doodling and memory games help unlock your right brain's coolest weapon - creativity.Experiment for your brains sake. Sketching, painting, dance, music, theatre or writing can help stimulate your right brain.
Striking the right (and left) balanceJuggling demands great hand eye co-ordination and gets them in action together. But to offset your habits and left or right brain dominance, try doing daily activities with your non-dominant hand. If you are right-handed, use your left hand to write, and vice versa.
Around 80 years ago, psychologist John Stroop came up with an interesting test to gauge the ability of brain's two sides to work together. Use alternate-colored pens to write a series of colour names but try to read only the color. So you may write 'Yellow' using a blue pen, but the challenge is to read it as Yellow and so on. This conflict-inducing test combines colour and language awareness and helps resolve conflicts between the two hemispheres.
Now that you know these simple exercises, dont slack. Start your mental workouts right away!
Disclaimer:This article is simply reproduced from other sources.There is nothing that I have added to this.
