The brain is an amazingly complex organ, but helping it function at its full capacity can involve very, very simple things. We love the simple things at HorseBack. We try always not to overcomplicate or overthink stuff. Sometimes, the simple solutions are the best.
We’ll give you some of our favourites. They might sound a bit like teaching your grandmother to suck eggs, because they really are so simple, but it astonishes us how often the obvious gets overlooked.
1. Make sure you drink enough water. A dehydrated brain is not going to work well. Water is essential to the body and the mind. A lot of people find it oddly difficult to drink enough water, so a good idea is to regard this as a game or a challenge. The key is to find a way where drinking two litres a day is such an automatic habit that you don’t have to think about it.
2. If watering the brain is important, so is feeding it. The best way to get the nutrition you need is to cook from scratch, if that is possible. Processed and fast foods don’t have much nutrition in them, and can contain additives and chemicals which don’t help brain health at all. Learning to cook simple, delicious food is a satisfaction in itself and means that the full range of vitamins and minerals are more likely to be fully represented. Dark green vegetables and oily fish are especially good for the brain.
3. Build good sleep habits. This is not easy for everyone. We have members of the team who encounter insomnia and it’s a brute. But the more you find ways of getting enough sleep, the more your mental health will thank you.
4. Laugh and smile. We love things which are instant, and free. Most improvements to mental health and brain health involve the long haul; new habits need to be built and new neuronal pathways laid down. But there are things you can do right this minute, without thought, which will help the mind. Smiling and laughing increase feelgood hormones in the body and reduce stress hormones. They produce a physiological effect which helps, rather than hinders, the efficient functioning of your mind.
5. Get out in the fresh air. We are in danger of sounding like your great-aunt Maude, but fresh air and exercise and taking in the beauty of the natural world are wonderful boosts to the way your mind functions. There is a reason that healthy body, healthy mind has been a saying from the dawn of time. The brain needs oxygen and decent blood flow, so a fast walk will get all that going. The natural beauty, wherever you can find it, produces more of the hormones like dopamine and reduces the stress hormones like cortisol. Being outside, particularly in nature, has been shown to contribute profoundly to overall wellbeing. This is another habit you can build into your everyday practice, without having to do anything fancy.
If you concentrated on those five simple changes, you would see a great difference in your mind and your sense of ease and comfort in the world. Give them a go and let us know what you think. We hope they will surprise you.
