As your body ages, so does your brain—at an even faster level. However, with your lifestyle choices, it can be accelerated even further. And given the high prevalence of mental health issues and disorders most people are facing nowadays, it has become imperative to boost your brain power. There are a few time-tested ancient Indian traditional ways that can help you improve holistic and cognitive well-being.
Packed with ancient wisdom, these methods help you focus on balancing your mind and body, thereby boosting memory, focus, and cognitive strength.
Effective Indian ways to strengthen your brain health
Effective Indian ways to strengthen your brain health
Based on Ayurveda and yoga, a few practices done regularly can increase focus and develop overall brain health. From the regulation of breathing through exercises to herbs that boost concentration, these age-old remedies bring the mind and body into alignment for optimal mental functioning.
Yoga
Yoga
Combining breathing with meditation — both of which are of immense help to calm and center the mind — yoga has a lot of physical and mental health benefits, such as reduced anxiety and depression. It also makes your brain work better.
When you do strength training and lift weights, your muscles become stronger and bigger. However, with yoga, your brain cells develop new connections, and changes occur in brain structure, resulting in improved cognitive skills like learning and memory. Yoga strengthens parts of the brain that play a key role in memory, attention, awareness, thought, and language. Experts often call it weightlifting for the brain.
Sattvic diet
Sattvic diet
A sattvic diet boosts your brain health as it promotes mental clarity and focus and reduces feelings of lethargy through its emphasis on fresh, light, and easy-to-digest foods. Loaded with nutrients, the sattvic diet focuses mainly on nutrient-rich plant-based options and avoids all processed, fried, and junk foods, which are highly stimulating. It helps your brain keep calm and more balanced.
The Sattvic diet involves seasonal fruits, vegetables, whole grains, milk, nuts, seeds, and herbs like ginger and tulsi. These foods support your body and mind and help reduce brain fog and emotional volatility, apart from improving memory.
Meditation
Meditation
Meditating daily is all you need to find a comfortable position and start bringing your attention to your breath. If it is helpful, you can also do a scan of your body to notice any sensations and release any tension you are feeling.
According to experts, not only does it help mental health issues like anxiety and depression, but meditation also takes care of your emotional stability and cognitive health. Practices like vipassana, mindful breathing, and chanting mantras like Om clear noise promote inner peace and enhance your decision-making abilities.
A daily 10–15 minutes of mindful meditation leads to an increase in gray matter density in your hippocampus and other frontal regions of the brain, apart from an increase in cortical thickness. It helps rewire your brain to enhance attention span and resilience.
Classical music
Classical music
According to experts, exposure to classical music can help enhance short-term memory, especially in women. Studies say music has the power to improve intellectual performance and cognitive function. The calming effect of music-induced by classical music—releases dopamine to spike pleasure and prevent the release of stress hormones. It helps enhance your mood, making everyday tasks easy and enjoyable.
Ayurvedic herbs
Ayurvedic herbs
This traditional system of healing has many ancient herbs and spices that help your brain function properly. Herbs like Brahmi, Shankhpushpi, and Ashwagandha are universally acknowledged for their brain-boosting properties and strengthening cognitive health. While Brahmi enhances memory retention and learning ability, Shankhpushpi is a great way to enhance concentration and clarity.
You can add these to your tea or drinks to help get over mental tiredness and strengthen overall brain health without side effects.
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