I’m all for calling a spade a spade, yet this may not always be the most rewarding practice. For example, what sounds more appealing to you: “physical exercise” or “brain building?” After watching a recent Public Television Special called “Change Your Brain, Change Your Body” with Dr. Daniel Amen, I decided I’d rather be actively engaged in brain building.
Dr. Amen and a fair number of research studies have convinced me that when it comes to overall health and quality of life, no single activity is more important for both your brain and your body than physical exercise.
The benefits of regular physical exercise go far beyond weight control, physical strength and endurance. They extend to protecting the brain and enhancing its performance by increasing the rate of neurogenesis (the formation of new nerve cells and neuronal connections). Mental exercise also benefits the brain, but its role is more limited to ensuring the survival of the new neurons. Good nutrition and stress management are also key components of brain health.
Recovery from serious mental illness is a matter of developing health and wellness routines that increase one’s mental and physical strength and resilience.
Physical exercise, as it turns out, is exercising the brain. So, call it what you will. Still, when I get off work in the evening the whole idea of physical exercise seems much less appealing than heading off to the gym to do some serious brain building. At least my brain thinks so…and you have to start somewhere!
Watch Dr. Amen on Rachel Ray’s show:
