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It’s a sad truth that many of us wake up stressed and go to bed stressed. Our brains are constantly working overtime trying to keep up with deadlines, remembering a loved ones birthday, remembering if you locked the car door, or worrying about whether you’re ready for that big presentation you have today. The thoughts we have to process are endless and our brains suffer for it. They become cluttered to the point where we can’t think straight and can’t perform to the best of our abilities.
Mental clarity is essential to our health and success, and luckily it can be restored very easily, and very quickly. Here are 8 fantastic brain warm-up exercises that can be done in the morning to encourage mental clarity, leaving you with a mind as clear as a blue sky.
1. Find a Noun for Each Letter of the Alphabet
This really simple exercise gets both sides of your brain to work together and it’s quite enjoyable too. Go through the alphabet and think of a noun (the more unusual the better) for each letter. Your left brain will help you to think of the word, and your right brain will imagine what the noun looks like (colour, size, shape). This exercise gets the entire brain to focus and eliminates brain fog.
If nouns don’t interest you, try naming comic book characters or television shows!
2. Classical Music
Studies have shown that music (especially classical music) can have a significant effect on our brain function, mental state and mood (it’s called The Mozart Effect).
Calming pieces of classical music can slow down your heart rate, which decreases blood pressure and lowers the level of stress hormones in the body. A stress-free mind is a clear mind, and this can be even more effective if you play the instrument yourself.
Fun fact: surgeons have been known to perform surgery whilst listening to classical music!
3. Yoga
Exercise is a healthy way to relieve stress, but yoga is even better because it combines exercise and meditation to de-clutter the mind. When a person is holding a yoga pose, their mind is focused on their breathing and staying still so much so that other thoughts are removed.
Kickstart your day with some epic mind-clearing yoga poses such as ‘Warrior I Pose’ or ‘Tree Pose’, which really diverts your focus to breathing and balance.
4. Double Doodle
Like the noun challenge, double doodle exercises both sides of the brain by using your dominant and non-dominant hands. Simply take a pen or pencil in both hands (stick the paper down with tape if needed) and try to draw a picture. To start off easy, try drawing a heart or the outline of a house (pre-school style). Doing this basic exercise in the morning will eliminate trivial thoughts from the mind and increase productivity.
Continue reading %8 Brain Warm-up Exercises for Mental Clarity in the Morning%
by Rebeka Bergin via SitePoint
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