"In the same way that a car that is well-maintained will last longer and be more reliable, you cannot hope to get the lasting high performance you want from your brain if it is not properly cared for and protected." —Kimberley Wilson, author of How to Build a Healthy Brain: Practical steps to mental health and well-being Psychology, Sociology and Neurology. Three courses I often share would be priceless academic courses to take regardless of one's vocation in life. Here on TSLL blog and the podcast, I have explored many topics within the first two subjects whether pertaining to emotional intelligence, relationships and communication, so when I came upon nutrition-trained Chartered Psychologist Kimberley Wilson's book - How to Build a Healthy Brain, I was intrigued and wanted to explore its contents. In so doing, I found what she had to share to be founded in a vast amount of supportive research from reputable institutions (in the United Kingdom and the states) as well as written in an approachable prose for readers, like myself, who do not have an educational background in the field of neurology, but genuinely wish to understand how their brains function and how to care for the brain well in order to live well. Today's post/episode is an introduction, a tasting menu of sorts to explore the wide ranging areas in our lives that contribute to the health (or malnutrition) of our brain and thereby, its capability to work to its full capabilities. Upon sitting down to read the book, once I began, once it was in my hands and I was reading it, it was hard to put down, and annotations now decorate nearly every page. Having completed my first reading of the book, I went back through and took detailed notes summarizing the key points that spoke to me and that I wanted to incorporate or strengthen in my own daily life. I will be sharing those here, but by no means is the list complete. The science of how the brain works, the parts of the brain, etc., are detailed in the first couple of chapters, and are worth reading prior to reading the entire book on your own as she lays a clear foundation of the parts of the 'engine' that make up the brain. While I will be focusing on what to do to strengthen and nourish your brain, reading her book details what happens when the brain is not nourished properly. For example, what chronic inflammation does to the mind and the effects witnessed in our daily lives such as depression, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's disease and other neurological maladies. However, because I want to lift today's conversation to focus on preventative and constructive habits we can add to our lives to create a stronger sense and state of well-being, I will be focusing on what you can begin or continue to do and how it nurtures the brain, thereby elevating the quality of your entire life. 1. Invest in your neuro 'pension' plan No matter how small your daily investments, so long as you keep contributing to your neuro pension plan, you strengthen your brain and stave off chronic inflammation. Daily investments as they pertain to brain nourishment are a conscious effort to continually be learning something new - whether that is information that is new or a new physical skill. When you learn something new, you are "promoting the growth of new neurones, helping new cells to survive (so be sure to continue to strengthen the newly learned skill with consistent repetition), supporting the survival of pre-existing neurones, and supporting the development of synapses - the communication junctions between brain cells". This process is called Neurogenesis - literally translated as the creation of new neurons. And "neurogenesis is crucial to the process of learning and memory." When your brain undergoes this process of neurogenesis, you are building your 'cognitive reserve' which is what Wilson refers to as the 'brain pension' and was "coined in a research paper published in 1988." I e