Mind Enhancement Strategies: Practices to Improve Mental Performance
Mind enhancement techniques abound and sorting through them can be daunting.
From crossword puzzles to card memorization to sudoku, people do many things to boost their mental performance. And that's a good thing.
That said, simply getting the fundamentals right can go a long way to boosting mental performance. And, once you get the fundamentals right, adding some mind-body practices can provide significant mind enhancement.
Now, before we discuss specific strategies, I'd like to make two points.
First, the mind is actually part of the body-mind system. Although we in the West often think of the mind as separate, it's inextricably connected with the rest of our body. Our thoughts affect the way we feel physically; and how we feel physically affects our thoughts. Whether we want it that way or not, that seems to be how things work.
Second, when we talk about mind or intelligence, there really are many types of mental activity and intelligence. The list goes far beyond what I'll present here, but here are a few types of intelligence:
- Verbal
- Logical
- Mathematical
- Visual and spacial
- Kinesthetic
- Auditory
- Social
- Emotional
- Naturalist
- Spiritual
Each type of intelligence has its own set of set of disciplines for development. These involve specific activities, such as visualizations to develop spatial intelligence, athletics to develop kinesthetic intelligence, and meditation to develop spiritual intelligence. (And, of course, there's math problems, vocabulary lists, and logic problems to develop other types of intelligence we all remember from school.)
However, for overall mind enhancement which improves the general mental clarity, focus, and performance you experience on any given day, it's best to begin by focusing on fundamentals.
It sounds simplistic, I know, particularly when it appears modern science could just hook us up to a machine to improve our performance.
But, the fundamentals of lifestyle - eating, sleeping, and exercise - have a disproportionate effect on your mental performance.
Why? Because your brain is 2% of your body mass, but it uses:
- 60% of the body's glucose supply
- 20% of oxygen taken in by lungs
- 14% of blood flow
If you're body performs better overall, your brain will too.
For Mind Enhancement, Focus On Fundamentals
Specifically, focusing on fundamentals means. . .
- Exercise: Cardiovascular exercise, in particular, improves blood flow. Aim for at least three 30-minute sessions per week. In addition to boosting blood flow to the brain, studies on rats show cardio boosts nerve growth factor, a hormone that improves neural connections.
- Diet: Eat real food. Since your brain consumes 60% of your body's glucose, give it good, natural, real food. This includes lean meats and vegetables, nuts and seeds, some fruit, little starch, and no sugar. Avoid processed foods, sugary snacks, and sodas. In addition, avoid too much of one macro-nutrient (protein, carbs, or fats) at each meal. Eating only carbs, for example in a large pasta dish, will lead to poor metabolic function and, as we've all experienced, "food coma."
- Sleep: Even an hour of missed sleep can cause declines in mental performance. Larger sleep debts cause performance impairments similar to being drunk. Getting a good night's sleep is one of the most important things you can do. Pay off your sleep debt, and then seek 7-9 hours a night.
- Avoid smoking and drugs, and drink alcohol only in moderation. Smoking affects your cardiovascular system, thus limiting oxygen and blood going to your brain. Drugs and alcohol kill brain cells, not to mention causing other problematic behaviors.
Then Add Other Strategies
Once you have the fundamentals down, add in other mind enhancement practices.
As I mentioned above, each type of intelligence has specific mind enhancement practices to boost performance in each domain.
And, many practices can boost overall performance as well. Here are some practices which boost mental performance and provide other benefits.
- Yoga: Yoga, which actually means "union," aligns the mind-body system, reduces stress, and brings feelings of clarity and harmony.
- Meditation: Meditation improves concentration, decreases stress, and promotes positive emotional states. Experienced mediators can develop heightened mental powers, such as improved intuition and psychic abilities.
- Visualization: Visualization exercises can improve concentration, program positive thought patterns, and literally change the structure of the brain. Recent discoveries in the field of neuroplasticity reveal that visualization causes changes in the brain identical to actually doing an activity.
- Martial Arts: Aikido, karate, ju-jitsu and many other martial arts can help train your body-mind's powers of concentration, focus, balance, and skillful action.
- Reiki and Energy Work: Reiki and other practices dealing with the energy centers can balance your body's energy, release blocks, and dissolve negative energies, which can affect your thinking.
- Journaling: Reviewing the day's events, looking for highlights, and recording your impressions boosts your episodic memory (i.e. your autobiographical memory) and your ability to make meaning of your life.
- Learning Anything New: Whether it's a new language, a new sport, a new job, a new route home, or anything else, learning new things provides exercise for your brain. Your brain develops new neural connections and you become more agile at learning, thus creating a virtuous cycle.
- Reading: Reading is obviously a workout for the brain in and of itself, but it also provides a mechanism to expose your brain to new ideas, new images, and new ways of thinking - an excellent workout.
- Brainteasers: Crossword puzzles, sudoku, math problems, card memorization, Jeopardy, and many others are all great mind enhancement tools. Build the fundamentals first - sleep, exercise, nutrition - and add these in daily as well to give you brain a little workout.
For very targeted brain workouts, I recommend Posit Science, the company created by Michael Merzenich, a leader in the field of Neuroplasticity. He has created several brain workout programs, which can be particularly effective for dealing with learning disabilities and preventing the neurological effects of aging.
I hope you'll find these mind enhancement techniques valuable.
As you've probably noticed, many of the techniques for mind enhancement are the same practices for stress relief, well-being, and overall happiness.
Incorporating these types of practices into your life will have profound effects on multiple levels.
Good luck!
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