How to start the morning to help your brain wake up

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-01-13 00:26

An excerpt from the book "How to Forget To Forget Everything" by Japanese neuroscientist Tsukiyama Takashi, from which you will learn what morning habits you need to get in order to keep your brain in good shape.

Do you feel cheerful in the morning?

For the brain to function well, it needs a suitable environment in which it can respond to constant change. It is impossible to preserve the youthfulness of the brain if life is extremely monotonous: to spend every day in the same room, to perform the same routine actions. And your circle of contacts is limited. However, there is something that is better not to change at all. This is the daily routine.

It is necessary to wake up every morning at about the same time, then spend some time in the sun. Try to do the most important things at the time of the greatest brain activity, and go to bed as early as possible in the evening. If you consistently stick to something like this, your brain will work more steadily. And this is very important for everyone.

When patients who have problems with this come to me, the conversation goes something like this:

- I have become worse thinking lately …

- When does this happen most often?

- When I talk to people.

- How is it shown?

- Suddenly everything flies out of my head, I just can't find the words.

- But now you talk to me normally, don't you?

- Yes, there are days when I feel good.

The patient is aware that sometimes he can conduct a dialogue normally, and sometimes not. He spoke to me without any problem as I directed the conversation by asking questions. Usually, in such cases, the brain functions are not weakened, the problem is in the unstable activity of the brain.

It is impossible to have a difficult conversation for a long time when the frontal lobes of the brain need rest. In the midst of a conversation, the activity of the thought process gradually decreases, and soon you cease to understand what it is about. Can't figure out what to answer. However, the area of the brain responsible for emotions is still working, and you realize what a terrible situation you are in, and you start to panic.

The brain has a special function of suppressing fear, but it also requires energy to activate it. Thus, there is simply no strength left for thinking, and … you find yourself in a situation where you are unable to think at all. In such conditions, it is difficult to perceive the speech of the interlocutor.

It often happens that a person quits his job, for some time, for example, six months, lives in a fairly free mode, and then again tries to get a job and is very surprised that the interview causes him difficulties. What amazes him so? It's simple - he realizes the difference between how well he thought before and how badly he is doing it now.

When these patients are asked what time they get up in the morning, they usually cannot tell the exact time. They say something like: “When, how, but always in the first half of the day …” Such an answer does not yet allow us to conclude that this is the root of all problems.

Therefore, I definitely send them for examination, ask about the daily routine, try to find the reason, given the possibility of emotional upset. And very often, after analyzing the general picture, it still turns out that the main reason for the difficulties is non-compliance with the regime. I advise these patients to create a clear starting point in their daily routine.

The human brain is not a machine; it cannot function equally effectively all 24 hours a day. It is a living system in which periods of active work alternate with periods of rest. Try to bring your activities as closely as possible to these periods.

You probably know about the jet lag syndrome. This is a state when the mode of operation of the brain ceases to coincide with the daily routine. You need to act, but it doesn't work, because the brain is used to resting at this time. And vice versa - you want to go to sleep, but you cannot sleep, because the brain is active at this time.

This is how the brain feels when the daily routine is disrupted. The only way to fix this is to create a starting point in your daily life. If you decide to wake up, say, at 7 o'clock in the morning, always wake up at seven. Sometimes this simple step alone is enough to improve the condition of the patient with symptoms of decreased intelligence.

Failure to comply with the regime leads to a decrease in intelligence

Unstable brain function due to such a change in living conditions is a temporary phenomenon.

But if you do not give the brain loads for a long time, then it will wean from vigorous activity. And this leads to the deterioration of his work. It becomes more difficult to have a conversation, to think about something for a long time. The brain is so arranged that it begins to avoid unsuccessful actions. As a result, every opportunity to give him the necessary load is lost. Because of this, it starts to function even worse.

Neglecting the daily routine is a direct road to dementia, and this is not an exaggeration.

You find yourself in a vicious circle, and as a result, the jetlag-like state can be replaced by a more serious problem - a decrease in intelligence, which is already more difficult to cure. I will allow myself a rather strong expression, because what I am about to say is a very important thing. Neglecting the daily routine is a direct road to dementia, and this is not an exaggeration.

The brain is lazy. How to make it work

For those of my patients who are used to living without a clear daily routine, I appoint an appointment in the early morning as educational goals. I went for it because if you just say to them: "Wake up at such and such a time," then most of them will not do anything.

A person needs to be in conditions where some external force (school, work, or something like that) forces him to act.

If left unencumbered, it will obey the requests of the primitive regions of the brain responsible for emotions. As a result, he will begin to avoid routine activities that seem boring to him, and will follow his simple desires. The brain is lazy and wants everything to be easy and straightforward.

But it doesn't have to be that way. Yes, the brain tends to be lazy - I can confirm this as a doctor. If you don't go to work or school, then I advise you to regularly visit whatever you want and set yourself a starting point.

The brain needs a warm-up too

Besides the starting point, there is one more important thing: the brain needs to be given the opportunity to "warm up". If you wake up at a certain time and stand a little in the sun, then the brain will somehow also turn on in the working mode (the human and animal body checks its internal clock with the intensity of sunlight). However, it cannot be said that from that moment on, the brain was fully awake.

The brain begins to work actively only two hours after awakening.

You've probably heard that he begins to work actively only two hours after waking up, and if you are going to take the exam, you must get up at least two hours before entering the classroom. But if these two hours are little different in activity from sleep, then this will not give the desired results.

Like the body, the brain needs a warm-up. I think that rarely any athlete starts their training with serious loads, and it is just as important for the brain to start working with the simplest things. Of course, the usual cash counting or rewriting newspaper articles is also a good option, but it will be much more efficient to move and speak.

The brain is responsible for more than just mental activity

Let's talk about the stress on the areas of the brain that are responsible for movement and speech. Are you wondering why we suddenly want to use the areas of the brain that are responsible for movement, if we need to "wake up" those that are responsible for thinking? I'll explain now.

The brain is not only a generator of thoughts, although many people think so.

If you look at the child's development process, right up to the appearance of the ability for higher thought processes, you will notice that there are large and complex structures in the brain that are responsible for movements, emotions, and the like. This is in addition to the main systems responsible for thinking.

First, people learned to walk upright, then they began to use their hands, then they developed a vocal apparatus and invented a language, then they began to think about difficult things. A morning warm-up that works on your primary brain functions is a great way to wake up your thinking zones.

If you wake up every morning shortly before leaving the house, take the subway or train without walking ten minutes, and spend the whole working day at the computer, then try to wake up early and do a couple of things from this list. It is most effective to do this in the morning.

• Walk or other light physical activity.
• Cleaning the room.
• Cooking.
• Plant care.
• Simple dialogue with someone (greeting, exchange of a couple of lines).
• Reading aloud (if possible, at least 10 minutes).

How to improve blood flow to the brain

The following considerations will help you better understand the relationship between the areas of the brain responsible for movement and thinking.

The first (movement) are located approximately in the center of the cerebral cortex. If they are actively used, then blood will circulate well there. This is especially evident when walking, because these areas lie close to the parietal lobe.

When walking, the main load falls on the legs, but the whole body is also involved, so the blood supply to all parts of the brain improves. This is one of the reasons for the increase in intellectual abilities after a walk.

How i spend my morning

For example, I will tell you about my daily routine. I get up at 5:30 in the morning. Hospital work starts at 8:30. I consider this interval of three hours to be time for a brain workout. I wake up, open the window, stand in the sun for a while. Then I change clothes, wake up the children (for this I have to go up and then go down the stairs). At this point, I also use speech.

Then - cleaning time in the room. I quickly scan the room and tidy up where necessary. At the same time, I perform actions with a slight load on my hands, but still there is an activity of the frontal lobes of the brain, which are responsible for choosing and making decisions. So my cleaning can be considered quite a suitable preparation.

After tidying up the room, I go for a walk with the dog. I walk for about an hour, sometimes thinking that now the blood is circulating well throughout the brain. I meet neighbors who say to me: "Doctor, I always see you in the same place at the same time" - and this is exactly what you need. It is not necessary to force the brain to react to changes in the morning, it is better to start with things familiar to it and let it wake up properly.

But sometimes I change the route. The brain already starts to work more actively as soon as you go out on the street, because it has to provide safety. But if you go the other way, then additional thought processes are activated, you begin to look more around.

Sharing greetings and a few words will help your brain wake up

After breakfast with my family, I go to work at Daisan Kitashinagawa Clinic or Kitashinagawa Hospital. Colleagues and other office workers tell me, "Good morning."

Nowadays, people have forgotten about the importance of greetings, but saying a few words in the morning is very good for the brain.

I usually not only say hello, but also try to exchange a couple of phrases with my interlocutor, for example: “Good morning. What have you solved about yesterday's problem? " or “Have you seen Real Madrid play? Beckham played great, right? " Thus, some phrases and listening comprehension are included in my morning exercises for the brain.

At 8:30 I start working. The brain is already in a state of complete readiness. Then my brain works the most actively - this time until 11:30. I try to finish as many important things as possible in these three hours.

Why reading aloud is good for the brain

There has been a lot of talk lately that reading aloud is very useful. This is true, because this process involves not only the eyes and speech apparatus, but also the work with information (perception → processing → reproduction).

When we read the text to ourselves, some places may remain incomprehensible, but in order to read aloud, we need to delve into the content. This is just the stage of information processing. Pronunciation of the text is the stage of its reproduction.

Continuous reading aloud will be especially useful for those who have little contact with people. When you read the text, it is better not just to say it, but imagine as if you are doing it to someone else.

Morning training has a good effect on the speed of visual perception of information, and on hearing, and on the ability to express your thoughts without hesitation, including in writing. In a sports example, it looks like a simple team exercise.

We accustom ourselves to do something with our hands in the morning

Cooking or caring for plants is effective as a morning warm-up for the same reason as cleaning a room. Here we involve not only physical activity (working with our hands), but also the frontal lobes: choice and decision-making. Plus, these are creative processes that force us to think.

You can do something with your own hands not only in the morning: it is always a good stimulus for the brain to work. And communication with nature is also calming. When the area of the brain responsible for emotions is in a calm state, the frontal lobes do not need to spend energy suppressing anger and anger.

What time to wake up in the morning and what exactly to include in your "exercise" - everyone decides for himself. I described my version, but someone will have to spend more time to activate the brain, while others will find it difficult to move so much. Try different methods and choose the one that works best for you. But there are three rules that I ask you to remember:

• Compliance is important for stable brain function.
• To do this, you need to create a starting point: always get up at the same time.
• Warming up is also important for the brain. You have to move and talk.

These things are far more important than mental training, but they are often ignored. Only by observing such simple rules will very many achieve serious changes in the work of the brain.

Getting the day started right is just one of the good habits for effective brain function. Read about the other 14 in the book “How to Forget To Forget Everything. 15 simple habits to avoid looking for keys all over the apartment Tsukiyama Takashi.