Managing Brain Health is the New Self Care

Self care; a perhaps oversaturated concept that marketing companies have exploited. To many, self-care looks like taking a bubble bath, or doing a face mask. While these are indeed forms of self care, I believe caring for the self goes a lot deeper than that.

In this article, I will be covering a topic that I don’t see many people speaking about in the self-care community which is self care via improving brain health. We will go over what is brain health, what is self care, how brain health promotes self care and how to boost your brain health, which will increase your self care.

What is brain health?

Brain health is the state of health a brain is in. That could be in regards to the physical structure of the brain or the neural workings of the brain. Either way, the health of your brain determines your ability to function well in daily life and work.

This includes problem-solving, decision making, interacting successfully with others, and emotional balance. Your brain health has everything to do with your life and how enjoyable it is. If your brain is not in good health, you will experience struggle in all other aspects of life. After all, the human experience boils down to a series of things running through the brain.

What is self care?

Essentially, self care has been defined as the process of taking care of oneself with different behaviours that promote mental/physical health. Practicing self care is engaging in acts that create a stronger sense of wellbeing.

This could be displayed by cleaning your house when you are feeling lazy, eating a salad when you are craving junk food, or even laying down a difficult boundary to a good friend. Self care can be exercised in countless ways, one way being maintaining good brain health.

Why increasing brain health is an act of self care

Your brain is your biggest asset in life. It is responsible for your entire existence. You cannot do a single thing without the brain. Let’s look at specific ways that brain health can improve one’s self:

Longevity

When we focus on brain health, our lifespan lengthens. Studies have shown us that good brain health promotes longevity and those who have more neural activity tend to live longer than those with less neural activity. What better way to care for yourself than to ensure you live the longest, happiest, healthiest life possible?

Mood

When our brains are in good health, we notice a lot of hormonal changes. You can expect to feel more balanced when prioritizing brain health. With a better functioning brain, our biochemistry is naturally more stable, which can promote wellbeing.

Stabilizing your hormones and promoting wellbeing are some of the most impactful forms of self care if you ask me! It is so hard to enjoy life when our emotions are out of balance.

Function

When we optimize our brain health, our lives become a thousand times easier. Strong brain health includes enhanced cognitive functions, which leads to increased focus, attention span, decision making, learning and more.

If you can dissolve the unwanted brain fog many of us experience while performing better in all aspects of life, your whole human experience is greatly enhanced.

How to boost brain health

Okay, so we know that boosting brain health is an act of self care but how do I boost my brain health in the first place? Let’s look at a few methods to do just that:

Physical Health

Making sure you remain active and enjoy a nourishing, well-balanced diet is key for brain health! Boost your brain with nutrient-dense food and lots of movement. You don’t necessarily have to do extensive workouts every day or eat a salad for every meal.

Simply doing your best and finding a healthy balance with your physical health and lifestyle is crucial to promoting brain health. Your brain is functioning best when you exercise and eat brain fueling foods.

Mental Health

Staying on top of mental health is much easier said than done. While taking care of your physical health helps you improve your mental health immensely, there are also other additional ways you can help yourself mentally.

This can be done by calling a friend when you feel sad/lonely or taking a break to journal out your thoughts and feelings. Something I have personally found effective in my journey to good mental health is meditating.

Not only has meditation helped me through a lot of personal baggage, but it is also good for brain health as well! Meditation increases focus and brain function, which boost brain health.

Challenges

Never stop learning, never stop trying new things, never stop challenging your brain! Although our neuroplasticity slows down drastically as we age, it does not come to a complete halt. Consistently creating challenges for your brain is the best thing you can do to boost brain health!

Your brain is a massive muscle and needs to be exercised to become stronger just like all the other muscles in your body. Try learning something new every day and making time to challenge yourself, whether that be through critical thinking, reading a difficult book, or learning a new song on the guitar-the challenges are endless!

Supplementation

Using different herbs and supplements are exceptionally effective. Whether that be using magic mushrooms to microdose or through medicinal mushrooms, there are so many brain-boosting supplements out there.

I use various supplements and herbs for optimizing my brain health. For example, I use microdosing during the day to increase creativity and focus and use CBD before going to bed to encourage my circadian rhythm to operate optimally. Sometimes I will use nootropics such as Ashwagandha for additional stress management… Experiment with different supplements and figure out what works best for you and your unique brain.

Closing Thoughts:

I have always been obsessed with self-development and focusing on brain health has been one of the biggest gamer changers I have come across yet! Boosting the brain comes with many necessary methods which, collectively, have increased my sense of wellbeing as a whole.

I encourage people to look for other self care methods as there are endless ways to go about your self care practices.

Treat yourself with some care today via boosting brain health.