{"id":3111,"date":"2022-08-10T07:30:00","date_gmt":"2022-08-10T12:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.tops.org\/wellness-wednesday\/?p=3111"},"modified":"2022-08-09T21:43:59","modified_gmt":"2022-08-10T02:43:59","slug":"staying-mentally-fit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.tops.org\/wellness-wednesday\/staying-mentally-fit\/","title":{"rendered":"Staying Mentally Fit"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-3058 size-full alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.tops.org\/wellness-wednesday\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/mentally-fit.jpg\" alt=\"puzzles help improve your mental fitness\" width=\"375\" height=\"281\" \/><\/p>\n<p>I will admit to not having much \u201cdown time\u201d most days. On the rare occasion when I am not scheduled to be away on assignment, in a meeting or on my computer frantically trying to meet a deadline, the default forms of relaxation I turn to involve physical movement outdoors. And while exercise is crucial to maintaining one\u2019s health, our mental fitness is equally as important\u2014especially as <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.tops.org\/wellness-wednesday\/any-age-fitness\/\">we age<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n<p>Which was one of the reasons I was so excited when a friend in book club introduced me to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/games\/wordle\/index.html\">Wordle<\/a>. It is an online word game updated every day by The New York Times. I played it almost daily for three months straight. Challenging my brain to work in a different way was not only entertaining, but it also slightly decreased my tendency to suddenly lose my train of thought in the middle of writing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Digital puzzles may not be your jam, but here are a few other activities that can positively impact brain health:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u2022 <strong>Jigsaw puzzles<\/strong><br>Jigsaw puzzles are known to improve concentration, mood stability and attention levels. In addition, working on puzzles can reduce stress and anxiety.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u2022 <strong>Card games<\/strong><br>Card games increase problem-solving skills, plus keep one\u2019s mind sharp by having to make strategic and mathematical decisions. For those who also struggle with social anxiety, two- to four-player games may be a less intimidating environment to interact with others and make new friends.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u2022 <strong>Chess<\/strong><br>Chess requires a wide range of cognitive functions: memory, logic and pattern recognition, as well as analytical and critical thinking. And if having a long attention span is a personal superpower, this is a mental \u201cwork-out\u201d worth trying.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Other activities known to boost brain power are Tai chi, knitting and number puzzles such as Sudoku. Got another suggestion? Drop it in the Comments section below so that I and the rest of the TOPS community can check it out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Harness your power to be well this Wednesday,<br>\u2014Rachel<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I will admit to not having much \u201cdown time\u201d most days. On the rare occasion when I am not scheduled to be away on assignment, in a meeting or on my computer frantically trying to meet a deadline, the default forms of relaxation I turn to involve physical movement outdoors. And while exercise is crucial [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":3100,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3111","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-wellness"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\r\n<title>Staying Mentally Fit - Wellness Wednesday<\/title>\r\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"While exercise is crucial to maintaining one\u2019s health, our mental fitness is equally as important\u2014especially as we age.\" \/>\r\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\r\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.tops.org\/wellness-wednesday\/staying-mentally-fit\/\" \/>\r\n<meta 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