including the Brain of your Organisaton
Until recently we thought that our overall intelligence is fairly well established. But just as you can work hard in the gym and change your diet to overcome bad physical genetics, you can also Train your Brain to far exceed its initial intellectual potential.

 “You can train your brain just like you would your biceps to perform at a significantly higher level,” says neuroscientist Michael Merzenich, Ph.D., a professor emeritus of the University of California San Francisco.

No matter what your age or current intelligence level, that grey matter in your skull is constantly changing and evolving. Put a little work into it, and your IQ, visual acuity, and ability to manage and process data can grow and improve right along with it.

Paying attention to your personal Brain Health and Development and educating people at your organisation on this matter can significantly increase personal and organisational Brain Power.

What affects our Brain Power?

– NUTRITION
1. Avoid Sugar Whenever Possible
“What you eat affects how you think,” says Fernando Gomez-Pinilla, Ph.D., a professor of neurosurgery at UCLA’s David Geffen School of Medicine. And eating a high-fructose diet over the long term may alter your brain’s ability to learn and remember information.
2. Keep Your Blood Sugar in Check
Even if you aren’t diabetic, large fluctuations in insulin levels in the body can dull your brain’s response times and inhibit peak performance. Two ways to keep blood sugar stable: Eat carbs on the low end of the glycemic scale, and avoid both skipping meals and eating junk food.
3. Eat Natural Food
That means natural meats, grains, fresh fruit and produce, and as little processed food as possible. Although the human brain grows at its fastest during the first three years of life, researchers say a clean, healthy diet is just as important after the brain is fully developed.
4. Stay Hydrated
Working up a sweat for just 90 minutes can dehydrate your body enough to cause your brain to literally shrink away from the sides of your skull—the equivalent of a year and a half’s worth of aging and abuse.
5. Fight Inflammation
It doesn’t matter whether your body is battling infection, toxins, or chemicals—anything that leaves your tissue inflamed, whether inside or outside your body, may have a negative effect on your mental performance. Among the best inflammation fighters: foods full of omega3s and antioxidants.

– FITNESS
6. Avoid Sedentary Lifestyle
Just walking more can amp up your brain power, according to research. In the study, sedentary men and women were encouraged to walk for 40 minutes three times a week. One year later, almost all participants in the study performed better on memory and intelligence tests, due primarily to improved connectivity between cells in the brain and nervous system.

– SLEEP
7. Get More Sleep
Your brain isn’t just fresher after eight full hours of sleep. It also has more learning potential, and performs better than when it’s sleep deprived. and process emotional information than men and women who skimp on pillow time.
– SOCIAL INTERACTIONS
8. Widen Your Social Circle
“Interacting with people challenges your memory, and forces your brain to stay nimble and grow,” say psychologists. It may not even matter whether your new friends are real or virtual.

– MINDFULNESS
9. Learn Breathing Exercises
Holding your breath and breathing deeply improves the flow of blood to your brain. As with your muscles, the more oxygen those tissues in your cranium get, the stronger and healthier they become—and the better they’re able to function.
10. De-stress and Meditate
Whatever form your relaxation takes, it will ultimately help you to be smarter in the long run, says Pasinski. When University of Oregon researchers taught a group of roughly 100 students a type of stress-busting meditation, they found that within just two weeks, study participants showed improved neural signalling within the brain, and after a month they found enhanced connections between brain cells—two of the primary factors responsible for better learning.

NEW to Mindfulness? Check out this short video practice

Interested in ideas of how to develop an effective Wellbeing Programme?
We provide you with 7 simple steps in the video below.