The statement above captures the essence of a form of Braintenance "cross-training" and "confusion training," wherein your brain is forced to break through its ordinary routines and to coordinate different tasks in a different matter. These exercises are very simple, but yield tremendous benefits in terms of your ability to focus and to be creative. Following is a sampling of exercises which may prove challenging enough to 'wake up your mind' and to capture your brain's attention. When dealing with the brain, more exercise, and greater diversity of cerebral tasks is always better. Try these:
1) If you are right-handed, try doing as many things as possible with your left hand, and vice versa;
2) Stir beverages, soups, and the like in a clockwise fashion, instead of in the traditional and popular counter-clockwise fashion;
3) Read a page of text from the bottom up, with the last sentences first;
4) Try working backwards for a while (be careful, and avoid those steps or the kids' Legos!); and
5) Do some simple multiplication and division problems in your head, with your eyes wide open.
These simple changes of pace will prove awkward at first, and will challenge your mind, as the central conscious coordinator of these voluntary actions. The skills required to make these changes are some of the most important in improving your spontaneous associative thinking, your creativity and your adaptability in problem-solving situations. Try these exercises; in fact, think of a few of your own and practice those as well as part of your cerebral cross-training workout. As we've noted before, doing things in an extraordinary fashion, forces your brain to do extraordinary things. Intellectual flexibility and neural plasticity are easily built by feeding the mind exceptions to the established routines.
Now, let's get to it, Fellow Braintenancers!
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BRAINTENANCE: Train, Strain And Improve Your Brain. Expand Your Mind.
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Braintenance contains articles, resources, exercises, games and specially-designed protocols to improve the power of your brain and your mind in every significant aspect, including memory, cognition, IQ, plasticity, creativity and problem-solving ability.
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