Brain health

Hello blog friends! How are you doing? I hope all is well with you. Come on in to my blog space so we can have a coffee or tea and catch up since I last shared my imaginary fishing expedition with you.

If we were having coffee, I’d say that I hope you like lists. I use them to capture key points when they’re still fresh in my mind and I can expand them into more details later. I have three fun lists to share in this post: The Extras, Mind Exercises, and Summer Fun. Feel free to read all three, or skip to the list that may be of interest to you.

The Extras

My first list is the extras that make my ordinary days extra-ordinary. They bring me many smiles this week:

Chats with my family members online.

Chats with my girlfriends by phone.

Chat with my neighbour: in-person, outdoors, and 2 metres apart.

Blue skies and sunshine all week long, high 30C on summer solstice.

Booked and anticipating a kayak outing next week.

Home-baked banana blueberry loaf: My new baking success.

New books from the library.

New sightings of urban wildlife: Birds, toads, and river otter pups.

Outdoor walks in the sunshine.

Scents of lilacs, roses, and blends of other flowers.

I’m grateful that my family and friends are all well. To date, no one in my social circle is sickened by the COVID-19 virus. Summer is officially here and nature continues to show off her seasonal beauty that makes my time outdoors wonderful.

10 Fun Mind Exercises

My second list shows ten fun exercises that I do to keep my brain sharp. The 6th Wellness Weekend link-up of 2020 is on today. The optional prompt for June is Mind Exercises. Please join in on the fun. All links are at the bottom of this post.

When we’re young, most of us are not concerned about our health. As we age, we know we need to do something to stay healthy. I assume that my blog readers all know we need to take care of our mind (the brain), just like any other part of the body.

When it comes to brain health, I refer to the Alzheimer Society Canada web site. It has plenty of helpful information and resources such as: A page on brain health, a printable brochure titled Heads Up for Healthier Brain, and a short video on “What can you do to keep your brain healthy?”.

I do several fun mind exercises on a regular basis and try new things to keep my brain as healthy as possible as I age. I also try to eat healthy, stay socially active, get enough sleep, and go for my regular health check-ups.

Here’s my list of 10 Fun Mind Exercises:

Bake a new recipe: Baking uses a number of senses: smell, touch, sight, and taste, which all involve different parts of the brain.

Do math in my head without the aid of calculator, or pencil and paper.

Do physical exercises that involve switching sides, counting steps, sets, repetitions, and focusing on different muscle groups.

Learn foreign languages: French and Spanish. The listening and hearing involved stimulates the brain, and more efforts required to differentiate the two similar languages.

Learn new skills: Baking, blogging, learning a new 20-minute dance workout with various dance moves, and photography.

Meditate: Of all the mental exercises, meditation may be the most challenging. It takes practice to quiet our mind.

Play with words: Write blog posts, play word games or Scrabble.

Practice yoga: Many yoga poses require focus and good co-ordination of mind and body.

Read widely, study directions, and maps.

Test my recall: Make a list, memorize it, recall it an hour or so later to see how many items I can recall.

My Summer 2020 Fun List

My blogger friend, Leslie at Once Upon A Time Happily Ever After, has invited me and other bloggers to join in her Summer Fun List link-up so the third and last list in this post is my Summer 2020 Fun List.

My Summer 2020 Fun List focuses on summer in the city. It has a number of outdoor activities that take advantage of the warm weather and the natural amenities by Lake Ontario. These activities are inexpensive and require minimal preparation on my part.

Here’s my list of 10 Summer Fun Activities:

Eat a lot of summer fruits.

Enjoy ice cream.

Explore local gardens or parks.

Go cycling on the waterfront trail.

Have a picnic by the lake.

Look for wildlife in the city.

Paddle within Toronto Islands.

Read light novels.

Relax at a lake beach.

Walk on the boardwalk.

I hope to share some of these activities with my family and friends as the government eases restrictions on social gatherings, and to check off all ten items on my summer fun list in the next thirteen weeks, before the first day of Autumn hits.

How did your week go? What fun mind exercises do you do? What’s on your summer fun list? I’d love to hear your comments.

I’m linking up this post to Wellness Weekends 2020, Summer 2020 Fun List, and other link-ups as listed here.