Developing Concentration - The Coin Technique

The ability to concentrate has become an important skill in this fast-paced society. People need to cope with work and study, both requiring the mind to work optimally in order to achieve great results. Concentration is also an important aspect of intelligence. You cannot possess a high IQ without having high concentration power. Even if you have a high processing power, you mind will slip away from your task before it can give you any fruitful results. Inversely, if you can maintain a prolonged and intense concentration, you are highly intelligent. You can sustain long and complex arguments in your brain, speak fluently and come up with ideas very quickly. Another thing about concentration is not just having zero thoughts. It is not merely calming your mind to prevent it from wondering. It is FOCUSING your mind to a specific thought or tasks. Your mind can be trained to achieve this through practicing the following coin technique.

1. Produce a coin on the table.
2. Get seated and adjust the distance of the coin from you where you can comfortably look at its shape.
3. Look at the side of the coin and concentrate on it.
   
4. Imagine your concentration as a force pushing on the side of the coin.
5. Do not make images or sounds in your head while doing this. Do not allow yourself to be distracted, daydream or thinking of any other thing while performing this. Be detached from the environment, think of nothing and direct you mind on the coin.
   
6. Feel that your are generating a force of pure concentration in order to move the coin. Force yourself to concentrate on this tasks as much as possible.
7. Do not strain your eyes or tense physically. Look at the side of the coin and push it with only your mind.
8. If you get distracted by thoughts, return to the focus and constantly maintain it.
9. Practice for a 20 minute duration daily. Take a break once a week if you want to.
   
10. You will feel as if time passes very quickly if you are doing this correctly.

This technique will bestow you with a super-focused mind. The effects of increase of brainpower can be felt after several practice sessions. After every session, you can feel yourself to be more alert and aware. In fact, long term practices can give you such powerful concentration that you can't even realise that you are so focused at that time until you've completed the task. However, remember to be committed on practicing and not straining yourself whilst performing this. You mind will wander at first but be persistent and you will reap the results.

OptiMINDzation Vol. 1

Ever heard of Stephen Pierce? He is a renowned expert internet marketer who is a master when is comes to building a successful online business. And he is the creator of the OptiMINDzation brainwave entrainment program. He aims for mind and body balance, that is being physically and mentally fit. He designed this audio program to boost his brainpower and also to cope with his demanding schedule. Being able to train your brain sufficiently in just 30 minutes a day certainly provides the satisfaction in life that people always wanted. Busy? Stressed out? Memory deteriorating ? Use OptiMINDzation.

The OptiMINDzation package of brainwave entrainment consists of 12 volumes each specifically created to benefit your brain in various areas. Volume 1 offers to train your brain, increase your IQ and provides you with mental stamina. The brainwave range delivered is in the mid-Beta range, just like iMusic BrainAmp. What's different is the brainwave technology is employs. Imusic uses a technology called IMAGINCE whereas OptiMINDzation uses isochronic tones. Unlike binaural beats , these methods of brainwave entrainment do not require headphones, but using headphone will obviously have a stronger impact due to minimized interference.

This audio brings your brain into the state of activity which is similar to performing a mental exercise. The only requirements is that you need to spend your time listening without distraction and during relaxation. On the other hand, iMusic BrainAmp can be used anytime, anywhere. This is the only part where iMusic is better OptiMINDzation. However, the effects of this entrainment audio have more immediate effect. After 30 minutes, you can actually feel the numbness in your head on your first use. Not everyone will experience this, but days later you will experience clearer thoughts and heightened awareness. You will feel that your mental abilities have improved. Focus, fluency and faster thinking is what you'll expect. Buying this first volume needs you to pocket out $29.90 but there is a free download here. Use for 30-60 minutes a day whilst relaxing. Enjoy!

I Like to Move It - An Anecdote

My grandmother, 67 , possess youthful energy you want to own when you are at her age. Now, she don't have any age-related disease. No cancer, heart disease, eye disease, osteoporosis, osteoarthritis, dental problems, diabetes, Alzheimer, Parkinson of any sort. Her mind is as quick as ever and every stride she takes is like a bursts of energy. Of course, you can't compare her with an athletic youngster but she is one healthy grandmother. The best thing is her mind doesn't show signs of degeneration.

"How is that possible?" You might think. For your information, her lifestyle is simple. Every morning, she has to rise early and walk 30 minutes to the market. 45 minutes later, she hoists bags of groceries and breakfasts on her way home. Unlike my grandad, she doesn't like spending much time on the TV. She prefers reading the newspaper, visiting neighbours, playing mahjong with her friends, or taking a stroll in the park just beside the flat. She stays in a 4-story flat house with no lift. That means climbing up and down very frequently. And surely, she is responsible for the cleaning and cooking at home, though she gets help from my grandad. Additionally, she quits junk food or anything she thinks is unhealthy, like processed foods. (I think this is due to a bad stomach ache she experienced in the past. Ha-ha.) She produces witty remarks and retorts, and no less decent advice. The only setback in her thinking is that she does not have the privilege to get proper education when she was young. This may be the cause of her conventional and traditional way of thinking.But this is not the point.

Nevertheless, she has a good example of a healthy brain we ought to admire. The moral of the story: Get plenty of exercises and take care of your diet. Walking is an extremely beneficial exercise. When you walk, your brain is being oxygenated. You enhances blood flow in the body. You burn calories. You can walk for an hour and not feel tired (unless you really have an unhealthy body). You can think properly. That's why people go for walks to ''clear their brain''. Park further from your office. Use the stairs. Do the housework. Stand more and sit less. For people who wish to pursue higher fitness, adopt a training schedule is the best start for a change. Go for it, and experience it!

Neurobics - The Brain Challenger

Neurobics is a term coined for a type of mental exercise that engages the brain in novel ways of functioning. It is basically aerobics for the brain. Neurobics demands attention and a lot of mental activity, leaving you either excited or frustrated. It mostly involves non-routine actions or thoughts, encouraging growth of new dendrites and neurons in the brain, and the formation of a new neural network as the brain is initiated to adapt to a new habit or environment. Thus it involves something entirely new to you. Essentially there are a few criteria for an exercise to be neurobic. The exercise must fulfill at least one of the criteria below.

1. You must have little or no experience with the action.
   
2. The action must require you to use more of your 5 senses.
3. The action forces you to concentrate.

In short, the action must demands your brain to work more. Examples of the exercises are:

1. Navigate through your house with your eyes closed. You've seen your house a millions times. Now, shut your eyes and let that confidence drop. You need to depend on your other faculties, feeling, sniffing and listening and sensing to move around. You might even notice things you never realize its there! The motor coordination area in the brain is also strongly summoned by the brain in order to prevent yourself from banging into your own bedroom door.
2. Use your non-dominant hand. This is an old recipe for training your brain but there is a staggering amount of people in the world that is non-ambidextrous. In fact, writing with your other hand can generate different types of ideas because you are using more of your other side of the brain to think. Brushing with different hands, folding your arms the other way and leaning your weight on your other leg is actually neurobic, though you are certainly going to experience discomfort at first. This time, don't hesitate to switch sides!
3. Go to a new place and do something new. Many people are too bored to take a closer look at their office or their own house. Sometimes they might be even too bored to try out something new at home. Choosing a new place for your vacation, trying out a new route to work (be early for this), go for camping and learning a new sport is beneficial for your brain.
4. Play identification games. Set up a few objects with a group of friends or family and get started! Identify the objects using touch, smell, taste or hearing can be very fun and exciting. This cultivates and enlivens your senses, using them like never before.
5. Read a book of different taste and style. Get sick with New York Times bestsellers and pick some books from the dusty shelves. If you cannot function in a kitchen, go grab the recipes for desserts and treat your parents. If you have no idea what is happening in political parties, pick some books on politics. Or if you have always wondered how the universe came into being, read about the big bang theory and start talking like a physicist. Maybe you don't like any one of those. Just maintain a neutral attitude and see what the book has for you.
6. Talk to a stranger. Grab the chance to know the new hottie in your company. Ask the handsome guy in your neighbourhood out for lunch. Start a conversation with that old lady at the bus stop. You learn to talk differently with different people.
7. Memorize numbers. You can just store telephone numbers on your phone and rely entirely on it. Or maybe you shouldn't. Try memorizing those numbers. The next time, flip on your phone and start punching numbers. Reiterate product codes in a meeting in front of your boss. Remember the car plates of your friends. You'll never know when you need those.
8. Take on a new challenge. Call an old friend and show them who's boss on the chess board. Test your badminton skills against a stranger at the sports center. Enter a singing contest. Impress your Polish friend with his native tongue ( if you're not Polish). Show the girls you can walk on your hands. Try it out and experience life anew!
   

See? There are thousands of things you can come up with. Neurobics is very flexible. You can modify it anyway you like. Anything new will do. Results? More brain cells, more brainpower, slower brain aging.

Using Subliminals

Our subconscious mind can easily be influenced. But it is also very powerful. The major setback is the subconscious mind does not judge. It won't keep what is best for you and discard anything harmful. It automatically determines the quality of your life without any doubts. And it easily takes in all the negative things the world is saturated with. However, we can turn this property of the mind to our advantage. This can be done through exposing it to positive things.

1. Subliminal tapes - These are tapes embedded with positive affirmations (positive statements meant for oneself) that is played for us to listen to. The affirmations cannot be heard consciously, they are either too soft for us to hear, harmonically layered with the music or simply played in reverse so that only our subconscious mind can interpret it. Remember that the subconscious mind takes in everything even though you are not aware of it. Through playing the tapes daily, you are unconsciously instructing yourself to possess that particular quality, such as making you smarter through the "I am intelligent" affirmations. One such effective products are the Innertalk programs, which is patented with the U.S. Government. The products are not available for free download simply because burning the tapes will severely degrade the quality of the subliminal messages.
   
2. Subliminal softwares - These softwares flashes positive affirmations in less than a split second. The only thing you can see is a blur of words. You cannot read them consciously but your powerful subconscious mind reads it directly. This way you cannot debate whether to accept it. You are asserting the statements unconsciously. A nice software is BrainBullet and it can be found here.
   
3. Subliminal posters - These posters can be self-tailored to suit your needs. All you need is write a positive affirmation on a blank sheet of paper (make it as clear and concise as possible) as stick it to your bedroom wall or all over your house. These serves as a positive stimuli which your subconscious mind will take in as well. For example, you can write a huge "A+" on a big sheet of poster, and looking at it before you sleep or just after you wake is the best time to send the messages to your subconscious mind.
   

Besides this, try to expose yourself to more positive stuffs. Hang out more with smart and hardworking pals, reading something motivating and be grateful for everything is a good way to start improving yourself.

Under Unconscious Influence - The Subliminal

Subliminal refers to anything that is below a threshold of conscious perception. All that happens within the subconscious mind is termed subliminal. It is essential to know about subliminal because our lives is directly related to it, even our own thoughts.

You know that in your subconscious mind, thousands of information is being processed every second. The subconscious takes in all stimuli, whether it is internal or external. External stimuli are the senses. Whatever you see, hear, smell, feel and taste; whatever you think is assimilated into your subconscious mind. It takes in everything regardless positive or negative and these are the things that determine what you are. Remember this: Your true identity lies in your subconscious mind because all your thoughts and feelings are created in that unconscious region. And the thoughts are made based on your experience in life; how you were taught and what is being fed into your mind since the day you were born. So everything about you from the things you believe in, the things you like and dislike and your opinion on good or bad, desirable or not, and your tendencies are ALL results based on what your experiences is telling your subconscious mind.

That is why it is important to feed your mind the right thing for you to grow and improve, and not degrading yourself. For example, if you think mathematics is too hard for you, or if you think you will never earn your first million in your life, you are telling your subconscious self to make you incapable of solving mathematics or do what a person will do to make himself poor. You shape your own destiny by your thoughts. Therefore it is extremely important to believe in yourself, to know that your can do anything if you try hard enough.

However, the outside world offers to many negative things for us to digest. The news often narrates about thefts, murders and other unspeakable crimes. Gossips circulates in the community and reaches even the most remote ear. Relatives and friends tell you what you should and shouldn't do. People talking bad about you. Limitation of the moments technology prevents you from considering impossibilities. (In fact, the telephone is once said to be a tedious and impractical invention. " Who would want to talk to someone very far away?") Rules and regulations binds us. Conventional thinking molds our very own essence of beings.

It is almost impossible to prevent all these negativity from reaching us (there, I say the word "impossible"), but there is a way to counteract this. You can consciously turn the negatives into positives through positive thinking. You just need to realize when you are acting negatively. At that instant, you can correct yourself by looking on the bright side.You can decide what is true and what is not. You can reconfigure your inner self and make it believe what you want to believe. Scientifically, your are just rewiring the connections in your brain so that it runs in the desired way. This can also be accomplished through affirmations. Affirmations are words said aloud to yourself for you to take in both consciously and unconsciously. For example, " I am brimming with confidence". There is scientific proof that repeating such affirmations on a daily basis can change your internal belief systems, like programming your chip to do the things you want!

You don't want the world to shape you. YOU are supposed to shape the world. YOU are the master of your own thoughts. YOU determine who you are, not someone else. The next time someone tell you that you can't, remember that it is utter NONSENSE.

Our Subconscious Mind

We all live in a world of consciousness. We think thoughts, we make decisions and take actions. We think in conscious terms and we are aware of ourselves. However not until the end of the 20th century, scientists discover that there is something beyond our conscious thinking. They call it the subconscious mind.

Our subconscious mind is a world beyond ordinary thoughts. It works beyond comprehension and sometimes beyond logic. It is a very powerful entity that exists in each of us that controls and guides our every aspect of being. When we are saying that normal people use only 2% of the brain, it is this subconscious mind power that the other 98% is referring to. Physical proofs of its existence is the process of automatic functions such as breathing in our body.

In order to understand the mechanism of the subconscious mind, we must first understand the inner workings of the brain. The brain have billions of neurons, each has hundreds of connections with neighbouring neurons. This makes the total amount of connections in the brain is virtually infinite. The connections is analogous to electric circuits in a computer. The important difference is that the brain possess FAR FAR more processing power than the most advanced supercomputer ever built by any human up to this point of time. With an estimated 100 billion neurons and 100 trillion synapses in the human brain, logically we should be able to generate billions of ideas in a second, calculate a 10-digit square in our brain, predict every possible move in a chess game, learn a new skill within minutes and never forget anything.

But the truth is, we don't. The reason is this. We are only consciously aware of a very small part of the brain activity in the moment. Out of the vast amount of processing going through in us, only a very small amount of it is available to us instantaneously. The thoughts that we are thinking is simply one of the the billions of thoughts going on within us without our conscious noticing. Do you ever wonder why your thoughts seem very random or why a very unrelated thought can jump suddenly to your mind? In fact, you are just picking up few of the many thoughts in your mind. Inspiration is simply your conscious mind fetching the most desired thought you need to improve your life. This is also holds true for dreams and enlightenment.


Our subconscious mind not only processes information, but also stores everything we ever experience, our senses, emotions and feelings. Remember when a very old memory arrives when you are in the middle of something? You just happen to dip into one of the many memories stored in you. And there is just things you never recall because your conscious mind never been there. It is because of the subconscious mind is an unconscious region, you simply cannot choose to recall anything you want or use it to process anything you like. In short, the subconscious mind is a functioning part of you that cannot be consciously accessed.

You might ask, why do we need the conscious mind since it is so limited? Why can't we just use the subconscious mind directly? The reason is if we rely solely on the subconscious mind to work, we will be like automatic robots performing daily tasks without conscious thinking. We cannot decide, neither can we plan or work. We will be like living zombies, acting on nothing other than pure instincts.

The conscious mind is crucial for everyday navigating and thinking while the subconscious mind takes care of the internal processes. Do not be confused that the subconscious mind is another entity. It is just a part of you that you are not aware of. It constantly guides your thinking and behaviours, and it holds your belief system. This forms the basis of the Law of Attraction. As a result, what we think is what we are.

Since the subconscious mind has unlimited potential, it has been a subject of study of many researchers in the world. They found out that in order to bring out one's true talent and to increase one's intelligence, we need to have more access to this subconscious mind, i.e. using more than 2% of the brain's potential.

A genius has simply increased the link between the conscious mind and the subconscious mind. It is akin to accessing more of the processors in the brain to enable one to think better and with higher accuracy. Merely increasing the link by a little can lead to enormous gains. The famous geniuses in history has all done this. This also explains the mystery of photographic memory and supernatural mental calculation. The people possessing the abilities can consciously allow their subconscious mind to do the work for them.

However, the occurrence of such strong links is very rare in life and this is part of what cognitive scientists live for. To study cognition and how to improve it in human.

Imusic BrainAmp

"iMusic, a patented, M.D. approved and powerful interplay between neuro-science and music, is proven to train your brain and show it how to peak perform for any task or life situation."

iMusic BrainAmp is a very powerful tool for brain training. It uses a technology called brainwave entrainment to adjust your brainwaves to the mid-beta level to train your brain like a mental exercise. The music slowly triggers the brain to emit brainwaves of similar frequencies.

"Listen to iMusic to improve your focus, IQ, memory and energy; safe guard your valuable mental assets; and lower your functional brain age! "

Here is why it works:
Your brain is like a muscle. The more you train it, the more it develops. That is to say performing mental exercises everyday can improve your brainpower. When you perform these mental activities, your brain is in Beta state. Neurons in the brain are rapidly firing pulses to near and remote neighbours. Your brain requires focus and that it where Beta state comes into play.

By allowing your brain to exhibit beta waves is very similar to doing mental exercises. iMusic trains your brain in the similar way BUT with one main difference. You don't need to do anything! You may just sit down and enjoy the music while the music gets the job done. That's it!

However, be warned though. This is not for everyone. From my research and experiments, this works well for people who lack Beta brain waves. People who have high levels of Beta activity do not get as much training as people who lack Beta activity. Another way to put it is the higher your IQ, the less work it will do for your brain.

This product can be obtained from www.getimusic.com for $39.90 or it can be downloaded here for free.

BrainWaves - Music of the Brain

We create electrical impulses when we think . These impulses are the result of neuron transmission, which are signals traveling from one part of the brain to another. Scientist are able to measure waves emanating from the brain due to these electrical activity. These brainwaves are categorized according to their frequencies and each category is associated with a distinctive state of mind. These are the alpha, beta, delta, theta and gamma waves.


All these states of waves have their own benefits.

1. Alpha waves - Experience bursts of creativity as you remain relaxed and enter a dreamy state. You are still awake but this is the time where moments of inspiration will hit you in the face anytime.
2. Theta waves - Dreams come to you as you enter theta state in sleep. Dream usually contains solutions to your problem in daily life and this is where lucid dreaming comes into play.
3. Delta waves - Sleep soundly and wake up refreshed and revitalized by going into delta state during the night. You are completely detached from your body and consciousness during this state. You won't feel as time has passed.
4. Beta waves - Remain alert and attentive as you inhabit this state. This is the state of focus, where neurons fires quick enough to enable you to perform any mental tasks at optimum level. Mid-beta waves are used in brainwave entrainment programs to increases your IQ and your thinking speed.
   
5. Gamma waves - This is a special state of consciousness that meditation masters can achieve easily. It is also a state of pure focus where you are in the 'zone' to do virtually anything. Your brain is running at its full capacity and your cognitive powers are at its peak. However, remaining too long in this state may cause nervousness, stress and anxiety.

We need to know what brainwaves are in order to entrain our brain to achieve the desired state. Either to be in peak performance state or to get a restful sleep, there are many methods available to help us tune our brain into the specific state.

Checkmate!

Perhaps chess is one of the most intellectually demanding board games of all times. It involves strategy, requiring players to plan, calculate, estimate, predict, making decisions, taking risks and even using trickery in order to win the game. Playing chess definitely increases your intelligence. Only Chess Grandmasters are attributed with a very high IQ other than Nobel Laureates and World Debating Champions.

The best thing about chess is, although there are many strategies to employ, there is no absolute way to win. It all depends on how you will react according to your opponent's moves. It relies very much on raw intelligence, which is what you really need in practical daily life.

Chess is also an excellent platform for people to socialize. It is also fun and addictive. Most importantly, it gives you a decent mental workout, depending on your opponent's intellect.

What you need to do is to start playing with a partner. As an alternative, chess games are widely available in mobile phones. In this case, 'Chessmaster' is recommended. For more variety, consider playing the Chinese Chess.

Word Processing (Reading)

We are all word processors. We absorb, analyze, process, and digest words through reading. Reading is how we pass on knowledge and learn. Without it, we humans cannot go through further civilization and development. Its is also the reason we are the smarter species on earth beside possessing verbal reasoning. Therefore, reading can serve to improve general intelligence.

Reading can be differentiated into 3 categories, namely normal reading, speed reading and photoreading. Photoreading is a type of reading that cannot be done consciously. Here I will reveal how to use reading to improve your cognitive skills.

• Speed Reading - A normal mistake on speed reading is people scan and skim through the pages, leaving out unnecessary terms in order to grasp the whole meaning of the text. This method can increase your comprehension power but it does not improve your grammar and vocabulary. Instead, you should take in everything at your quickest pace while maintaining your fullest comprehension. Of course there will be confusion at first, but as your brain rewires itself to construct a shortest path to understanding, you will develop the ability to absorb information like a sponge.

• Higher Level Reading - Many people can be a fast reader. They can take in meanings in a flash. But still their initial intelligence don't go any further. Here is the fact. If you can read through a material effortlessly, it is too easy for you. I have friends who are fiction enthusiast, completing books after books in days. But they still have problems in their studies. What is happening is the level of difficulty in textbooks or any educational non-fiction far surpasses the everyday language used in fiction nowadays. The best way to improve your reading beyond your initial skills is to pick materials that you cannot read easily without stopping to think for a moment. Pick classics or literature for this purpose.

• Unconventional Reading - Read the text upside down. This does two things. Firstly you are reading from right to left. Secondly you are dealing with the words as if they are new symbols and translating it into known words. This simple adjustment takes you to a new approach to reading, thus greatly enhancing your word recognition when it comes to normal reading.
  

As your reading skills improve, anything academic or intellectual will feel easier. You will be literally 'upgrading' your mind's processor to run faster and better, i.e. increasing your intelligence.

I Like to Move It !

If the body is fit, so the mind is. Fitness not only provides body and brain health, it also boosts your intelligence.

Fit people have higher overall blood volume capacity in the body, which allows increased blood flow to the brain. More nutrients go the the brain. They also have higher complexity of the dendrites within the neurons in the brain. This means that their brain cells communicate more efficiently, thus enable the person to think better.

There are two types of fitness. One is being aerobically fit and the other is being strong. Both makes you smarter.
Being aerobically fitter (through running, cycling, rowing etc.)

• Increases your breathing span. Breathing span and attention span are directly proportional. The more efficient the breathing mechanism is, the better your attention and concentration. This creates the focus required in intellectual tasks.
• More oxygen sent to the brain with every breath. The brain thrives with oxygen and this will certainly work better for you this way.

Being physically stronger (through weight lifting and strength training)

• Links the right hemisphere of the brain with the motor coordination area at the back of the brain. More brain areas will be able to work together to process information. This means an increase in intelligence.
• Builds new neurons (brain cells) in your brain as you learn to use sets of muscles that are usually inactive in daily chores. More neurons in the brain is like having more workers in a company. Therefore more work can be done by the brain.
  

Another very effective exercise is dancing. Dancing styles like hip-hop, popping and break dance involves very complex movement. As dancers learn new dance moves, not only they have to memorize them ,but they must also do them correctly and perfect them. This kind of mental operation provides a new depth of training for the brain, thus enhancing cognitive abilities.

Why Sleep More?

We all know that sleep is good for us. Unfortunately, many people still sleep lesser than they need. I know many people who rather stay up surfing the web or just stay awake rather than sleeping. The next day, they begin to curse the alarm clock. Seems that knowing the benefits of sleep is not enough. People need to know what will happen if they don't get enough sleep.

1. Sleep deprivation makes you a slow-learner - Sleep consolidates memory. During sleep, neurons are reorganized and the strength of the neuron connections is changed. What is learned during the day is assimilated into the long-term memory. You remember less when you sleep less.
   
2. Sleep deprivation makes you dim-witted - Since sleep restores energy, lack of energy and recovery during the day results in a low-focus, blurry state. You can still think but the chances of making flawed decisions is higher. Sleeping less is like going for a workout again without proper recovery.
3. Sleep deprivations gives you bad temper - Lack of sleep makes you emotional. Deep emotional centers of the brain were approximately 60% more reactive when you're sleep deprived, therefore you judge according to what you feel. This results in a low emotional intelligence and more stress on the brain.

Even Einstein sleeps 10 hours a day. Leonardo da Vinci himself proclaims that 'sometimes geniuses accomplish more when they work less". So not why set an early sleep schedule today?

I Need Stimulation!

Your brain wants to play. It needs more activity or else it starts rotting. It will grow stagnant and your brain cells start dying of deprivation of stimulation. It needs stimulation to stay alive. Simple mental tasks can help the brain a lot.

"Simple brain exercise can boost IQ" - NewScientist.

By stimulation it doesn't mean any stimulation. And it is different from entertainment. An activity can be entertaining but not stimulating. For example, when you sit down watching TV, your mind is passive and it is doing nothing. Meanwhile, listening to the radio is more beneficial. Through listening only you need to visualise the situation described, not being spoonfed details by the TV. Here are a few things you should do instead of leaving your brain idle when you are not doing anything.

1. Active Daydreaming (also a form a visualization) - What makes this different from ordinary daydreaming is that you engage all of the possible senses in your daydream. Make them as vivid as possible and include extra senses into the image such as touch, sound, taste and also emotions. This connects different areas of brain which trains your brain more than thinking in abstract and vague images.
2. Active Listening - Listen to music or the ambient surrounding by noticing the layers of sound as well as the tones and rhythm, if possible. This trains your listening skill and it requires only minimum effort. Just relax and actively participate in the environment.
3. Mental Silence - When you are in this state, you have no thoughts in your mind. You are still and have a heightened sense of awareness. This brings a relaxed focus which can recharge the brain very efficiently. You don' t have to meditate to do this. One powerful way of experiencing this is through living in the moment.
4. Singing - Either aloud, humming or just playing songs in your mind, singing is a good way of accessing the memory portion of your brain effortlessly. Not only you trigger the verbal part of you brain as you mutter the words, you are performing a type of memory retrieval. This amount of activity is beneficial to your brain than letting it doing nothing.
   

Feed Your Brain

nYour brain is like you own child. You need to feed it the right food for it to grow. Be it that you want to increase your intelligence or just maintain you brain health, you need brain nutrition. Let's forget about multivitamins and look into some brain food that you might not know it can save your brain.

1. Evening Primrose Oil - The oil contains Omega-6 fatty acids and it is not synthesized by the human body. It is one of the essential fatty acids besides Omega-3 that promotes brain growth and development.
2. Alpha Lipoic Acid - Include this super anti-oxidant which helps protect brain cells from free radicals which cause brain disorders. It passes to the brain rapidly for quick protection. It also helps to regenerate other brain protectors (vitamins C, E and coenzyme Q10) through a regenerative process, which no other brain protector does. It will also control blood sugar and insulin levels.
3. Co-enzyme Q10 - You need this for correct functioning of the brain. A study positively show that Co-Q10 supplements can increase the levels in brain mitochondria, where Co-Q10 is especially concentrated. This means that your brain will produce more energy.
   
4. Choline - Take this to prevent mental loss. It functions to maintain neurotransmissions in the brain and reduce damaging brain toxins. It is also critical for the normal development of the brain, especially the memory center of the brain. This nutrient is available in egg yolks, peanuts, milk liver, fish, broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower.
5. Gingko Biloba - Experience more blood flow to the brain and consequently more oxygen for the brain! This supplement not only enhances your memory, but also improve bodily blood circulation. Feel mentally refreshed as your brain gets a boost!