Surprising and Intriguing Brain Exercises - Guest Post from Gretchen Rubin

          Did you know that humans are the only animals whose brains are known to atrophy as we get older?

          Gretchen Rubin is a blogger and the bestselling author of  The Happiness Project. She agreed to share the following post on a subject you will undoubtedly find interesting.

          Dorothea Brande was an American writer and editor, well known for her books Wake Up and Live and Becoming a Writer (a useful resource for writers, by the way).

          In 1936, in Wake Up and Live,  Brande suggests several mental exercises to make your mind keener and more flexible. These exercises are meant to pull you out of your usual habits, give you a different perspective, and put you in situations that will demand resourcefulness and creative problem-solving. Brande argues that only by testing and stretching yourself can you develop mental strength.

          Even apart from the goals of creativity and mental flexibility, Brande’s exercises make sense from a happiness perspective. One thing is clear: novelty and challenge bring happiness. People who stray from their routines, try new things, explore, and experiment tend to be happier than those who don’t. This is a challenge for me: I love familiarity and mastery.

          Because, of course, as Brande herself points out, novelty and challenge can also bring frustration, anxiety, confusion, and annoyance along the way; it’s the process of facing those challenges that brings the “atmosphere of growth” so important to happiness. (It’s the First Splendid Truth: to be happy, you must think about feeling good, feeling bad, and feeling right, in an atmosphere of growth.)

          Consider these exercises:
    
          1. Spend an hour each day without saying anything
                    except in answer to direct questions, in the
                    midst of the usual group, without creating
                    the impression that you’re sulking or ill. Be as
                    ordinary as possible. But do not volunteer
                    remarks or try to draw out information.

          2. Think for 30 minutes a day about one subject ex-
                    clusively. Start with five minutes.

          3. Talk for 15 minutes a day without using I, me,
                    my, mine.

          4. Pause on the threshold of any crowded room and
                    size it up.

          5. Keep a new acquaintance talking about himself
                    or herself without allowing him to become
                    conscious of it. Turn back any courteous
                    reciprocal questions in a way that your auditor
                    doesn’t feel rebuffed.

          6. Talk exclusively about yourself and your interests
                    without complaining, boasting, or boring your  
                     companions.

          7. Plan two hours of a day and stick to the plan.

          8. Set yourself twelve tasks at random: e.g., go
                    twenty miles from home using ordinary con-
                    veyance; go 12 hours without food; go eat a
                    meal in the unlikeliest place you can find;
                    say nothing all day except in answer to
                    questions; stay up all night and work.

          9. From time to time, give yourself a day when
                    you answer “yes” to any reasonable request.

          Doing this kind of exercise can seem artificial, but it can also be a fun way to put a little challenge into your ordinary routine.

 

You can learn more about Gretchen Rubin and The Happiness Project at:
     www.happinessproject.com
Please leave any comments for Antonia here:  antoniasseniormoments@hotmail.com or
     Antonia's Senior Moments on Facebook