Ilchi Lee

To not lose track of yourself, it’s important to create some quiet. Meditation is a great exercise for doing this.

Sara Lazar, a psychologist at Harvard Medical School, states that, “the goal of [meditation] is not so much to ‘empty’ your head, but to not get caught up in random thoughts that pop into consciousness.” It is a way to forget about the “what if” and focus on what is happening right now.

According to Ilchi Lee, originator of the Brain Education System Training (BEST) and author of In Full Bloom: A Brain Education Guide for Successful Aging, “the goal of all meditation is the same: to quiet the conscious mind…to still the flow of conscious thought—analysis, questioning and self-talk—and simply let the mind be.”

When you meditate, you activate other parts of your brain. You allow yourself to begin perceiving things in a different way, and you learn about life and yourself. Lee’s floor meditation exercise can help you do this.

From Ilchi Lee (Excerpted from In Full Bloom: A Brain Education Guide for Successful Aging)

1. Sit on the floor with your legs crossed. One foot may rest on the floor, but the other should sit on your thigh.

2. Keep your back straight. Place your hands on your knees. Hold your palms facing upward.

3. You may close your eyes or keep them open. Relax your shoulders. Keep your chin slightly lowered.

4. Open your mouth slightly and keep focusing on exhalation. Focus on the energy flow inside your body.

Nicotine, caffeine, drugs and alcohol are all substances that adversely affect our health and are highly addictive. Their usage is particularly harmful to the brain, decreasing vital blood flow and accelerating the aging process.

According to Pier Piazza of France’s National Institute for Health and Medical Research, nicotine kills brain cells and stops new cells from forming.

Caffeine, drugs and alcohol all have a similar effect on the brain. The more you consume or inhale the more negative the effect. Simple slips in memory, for example, may turn into permanent conditions requiring long-term help. Additionally, many users suffer from fatigue, jumpiness, irritability, headaches and sleep deprivation. This is the “crash” after the high—the physical and emotional drop from the initial state of pleasure.

If you want to live a longer, healthier life, order bottled water instead of coffee, or stamp out that cigarette before taking a puff. It may be difficult initially, but in the long run you will fare much better for it.

We all have tears—three different types to be exact. Basal tears lubricate our eyes, reflex tears occur while chopping onions or after we receive a hit to the eye and emotional tears are caused by something psychological.

Dr. William Frey, a biochemist, conducted a study on crying. He compared the tears of women crying for emotional reasons (emotional tears) to the tears of women crying over cut onions (reflex tears). The results showed that the emotional tears contained high levels of the hormones and neurotransmitters associated with stress. The participants crying emotional tears also showed lowered blood pressure, pulse rate and more synchronized brain-wave patterns.

Dr. Frey believes emotional crying is a process the body uses to rid itself of accumulated stress hormones. It makes us feel good because it releases unhealthy toxins from our body. If these toxins are not released, if we hold in our tears, we can keep our bodies in a state of “tension,” which can lead to a weakened immune system, impaired memory, indigestion and possibly anxiety.

The next time you feel the need to cry, go ahead. Weep away. You’ll find yourself feeling better for it.

Throughout the visit, the Chinese ping-pong team thrashed their American counterparts, but it was a breakthrough in Chinese-American relations. In fact, Time magazine called it “the ping heard round the world.”

Now the game is making a new ping—in the field of neuroscience.

According to Dr. Daniel Amen, author of Making a Good Brain Great, ping-pong (also known as table tennis) is great for the brain. It requires eye-hand coordination, and it stimulates high levels of brain activity. It is also known as a great rehabilitative activity for stroke, surgery and accident patients, as it reactivates the brain to muscle pathways.

Ping-pong is also a low-impact exercise that can give you a great aerobic workout, strengthen your cardiovascular system, increase muscular endurance and improve muscle tone.

In fact, studies show that just thinking about ping-pong is good for the brain. It’s called mental visualization, and the brain is just as active when imagining playing ping-pong as it is when you physically play ping-pong.

So if you want to exercise—and maybe even get into diplomatic relations—pick up a paddle. The benefits are far larger than the little ball you’ll be chasing.

If you are ready to begin making those choices, Brain Education System Training (BEST) is a five step mind-body training program that can help you unleash your potential. Each step builds on the previous step to affect your body, mind and spirit.

The five levels of BEST include:

In this program filled with exercise, meditation, mental challenge and emotional cleansing, you will work your body and mind as you begin to enjoy improved health, enhanced sharpness and reduced stress.

By using the BEST method you can develop your capacities for health, well-being, achievement and inner peace. You will establish a connection between mind and body, master new tasks, gain a more positive state of mind, discover your true self and begin using your brain as a tool to create your new life—your BEST self.

Now shift your eyes to a white area on your computer screen or wall.

What did you see when you changed the focal point of your gaze? Red, white and blue—the United States Flag in its original colors?

If you did, and it was probably a little foggy, what you saw was an after image. After images are formed when the cones in your eyes become tired and loose their sensitivity to the colors they are currently looking at. When this occurs, you see white light—a mixture of all colors—minus the color your cones have become insensitive to. In this case, you see the colors of the American flag.

InSight™, a computer-based brain fitness training program, was released on March 17, 2008 by Posit Science® Corporation. The five-exercise program was designed to speed up and sharpen the user’s brain ability to process visual information. According to researchers, it also helps people maintain a “health-related quality of life.”

Studies show that InSight™ program participants have a 200 percent increased useful field of view, lowering the time it takes to complete simple everyday tasks, and a 50 percent reduction in hazardous driving maneuvers. Another study showed that five years after training, participants were 35 percent less likely to experience a quick decline in their health-related quality of life.

A 63-year-old participant claims, “It has given me confidence and makes me feel that I can drive safely.” Driving—maintaining autonomy and independence—is very important to people as they age.

InSight™ is just one of many games in an increasing crowded market. The question remains, do these new games offer the brain something new? Are they really an improvement over classic mind workouts like chess, puzzles and crosswords? Or are they simply new tools for a more technology-focused age? Either way, old school or new school, the result of playing these games is the same—improved cognitive ability throughout life.

A study conducted at the University of Massachusetts-Lowell compared the diets of adult mice and aging mice using a standard diet, a nutrient-deficient diet and a nutrient-deficient diet supplemented with apple juice concentrated water.

The aging mice that consumed the apple juice performed better on the maze tests and had less oxidative brain damage—atypical in the aging process—than those eating the standard diet. Consuming apples and/or apple juice everyday may actually protect against the cell damage that leads to age-related loss of memory.

According to lead researcher Dr. Thomas B. Shea, “this study suggests that eating and drinking apples and apple juice, in conjunction with a balanced diet, can protect the brain from the effects of oxidative stress.”

Other studies have shown other benefits of eating apples—cancer prevention, decrease in incidence of stroke, lowered asthma-related problems and overall better health. Shea’s study suggests that the antioxidants found in the apples contribute to the positive effects in brain function.

If you want to keep the doctor away, and you are not an apple eater, start drinking apple juice. The effects are the same, and it just won’t be your doctor that thanks you. Your brain will thank you too.