Brain Chill
By Claire McNamara
Straight-up chillin’ for 20 minutes a day will make your brain better.
So, alongside all the physical activity you do for your body – it’s now time to exercise your brain, but unlike sweating it out at the gym, your brain requires a much more relaxed approach! The recommended ‘Chill Time’ is 20 minutes and provides a vital chance to review and assess your thoughts. No strenuous workout or physical activity needed – just a relaxed environment to watch your thoughts float.
Meditation is like medicine for the brain. “By practicing meditation, we can play an active role in changing the brain and can increase our well-being and quality of life”, says Britta Holzel who completed a PhD in neuroscience, focusing her research on how meditation and yoga affect the brain.
And according to Harvard’s study on how eight weeks of meditation will change the shape of your brain, it enables you to navigate the neural pathways in your brain leading to better focus and memory.
The brain thinks on average 60,000 thoughts per day and to be in the zone of flourishing we the more of those that can be positive the better. So next time you feel under duress to exercise your limbs, also give a thought to the 12 pounds of mass – the human brain – that needs 20 minutes of ‘Chill Time’ to function properly. Never forget the brain works on a voluntary basis 24 hours per day, 365 days per year and doesn’t ask for anything in return! Maybe giving it this rest period will actually put you in perfectly positive form for heading to the gym after.
