There are two basic principles to keep your brain healthy and sharp as you age: variety and curiosity. When anything you do becomes second nature, you need to make a change. If you can do the crossword puzzle in your sleep, it’s time for you to move on to a new challenge in order to get the best workout for your brain. Curiosity about the world around you, how it works and how you can understand it will keep your brain working fast and efficiently. Use the ideas below to help attain your quest for mental fitness.

1. Read a Book

Pick a book on an entirely new subject. Read a novel set in Egypt. Learn about economics. There are many excellent popular non-fiction books that do a great job entertaining you while teaching about a subject. Become an expert in something new each week. Branch out from familiar reading topics. If you usually read history books, try a contemporary novel. Read foreign authors, the classics and random books. Not only will your brain get a workout by imagining different time periods, cultures and peoples, you will also have interesting stories to tell about your reading, what it makes you think of and the connections you draw between modem life and the words.

2. Play Games

Games are a wonderful way to tease and challenge your brain. Suduko, crosswords and electronic games can all improve your brain’s speed and memory. These games rely on logic, word skills, math and more. These games are also fun. You’ll get benefit more by doing these games a little bit every day-spend 15 minutes or so, not hours.

3. Use Your Opposite Hand

Spend the day doing things with your non-dominant hand. If you are left-handed, open doors with your right hand. If you are right-handed, try using your keys with your left. This simple task will cause your brain to lay down some new pathways and rethink daily tasks. Wear your watch on the opposite hand to remind you to switch.

4. Learn Phone Numbers

Our modem phones remember every number that calls them. No one memorizes phone numbers anymore, but it is a great memory Skill. Learn a new phone number everyday.

5. Eat for Your Brain

Your brain needs you to eat healthy fats. Focus on fish oils from wild salmon, nuts such as walnuts, seeds such as flax seed and olive oil. Eat more of these foods and less saturated fats. Eliminate transfats completely from your diet.

6. Break the Routine

We love our routines. We have hobbies and pastimes that we could do for hours on end. But the more something is second nature, the less our brains have to work to do it. To really help your brain stay young, challenge it. Change routes to the grocery store, use your opposite hand to open doors and eat dessert first. All this will force your brain to wake up from habits and pay attention again.

7. Go a Different way

Drive or walk a different way to wherever you go. This little change in routine helps the brain practice special memory and directions. Try different side streets go through stores in a different order anything to change your route.

8. Learn a New Skill

Learning a new skill works multiple areas of the brain. Your memory comes into play, you learn new movements and you associate things differently. Reading Shakespeare, learning to cook and building an airplane out of tooth picks all will challenge your brain and give you something to think about.

9. Make Lists

Lists are wonderful. Making lists helps us to associate items with one another. Make a list of all the places you have traveled. Make a list of the tastiest foods you have eaten. Make a list of the best presents you have been given. Make one list every day to jog your memory and make new connections. But don’t become too reliant on them. Make your grocery list, but then try to shop without it. Use the list once you have put every item you can think of in your cart. Do the same with your “to do” lists.

10. Choose a new skill

Find something that captivates you that you can do easily in your home and doesn’t cost too much. Photography with a digital camera, learning to draw, learning a musical instrument learning new cooking styles, or writing are all great choices.

 這里有兩個(gè)基本原則可以保持你的頭腦健康靈敏：變化和好奇心。當(dāng)你做一件事成為習(xí)慣,你需要做出改變。如果你在睡覺時(shí)也能做猜字游戲，那么為了讓你的大腦得到最好的鍛煉，這是轉(zhuǎn)向一個(gè)新挑戰(zhàn)的時(shí)候了。對(duì)周圍世界充滿好奇心將會(huì)使你的頭腦敏捷而高效。使用下面的方法可以幫助你鍛煉大腦。

1、讀一本書

選一本關(guān)于一個(gè)全新主題的書。讀一部發(fā)生在埃及的小說、學(xué)習(xí)金融。會(huì)有很多出色而流行的非小說書籍，它們?cè)诮棠阆嚓P(guān)知識(shí)的同時(shí)，還能使你感到快樂。每周都成為新事物方面的專家。跳出你所熟悉的閱讀主題。如果你經(jīng)常讀歷史書籍，嘗試一本當(dāng)代小說。閱讀國(guó)外的作品，經(jīng)典和隨機(jī)的書籍。你的頭腦會(huì)因沉浸于不同的時(shí)代、文化和人物而得到鍛煉，不僅如此，你還能獲得有趣的故事。

２、玩游戲

玩游戲是一個(gè)挑戰(zhàn)大腦的好方法。數(shù)獨(dú)（一種數(shù)字游戲），猜字和電子游戲都能促進(jìn)你的思考速度和記憶力。這些游戲依賴于邏輯，文字技巧，數(shù)學(xué)或是更多。同時(shí)它們都很有趣。當(dāng)你每天花大約１５分鐘，而不是幾小時(shí)，來玩這些游戲，你將受益匪淺。

３、使用你的另一只手

用你不太有控制力的一只手做事。如果你是左撇子，用右手開門．如果你是右撇子，試著用左手使用鑰匙．這種簡(jiǎn)單的事將使你有新的思維路徑。把手表戴在另一支手上提醒自已轉(zhuǎn)變。

４、記憶電話號(hào)碼

當(dāng)我們打電話時(shí)手機(jī)記錄了每一個(gè)號(hào)碼。沒有人再去記憶電話號(hào)碼，但這是一個(gè)記憶技巧。試著每天記憶一個(gè)新的電話號(hào)碼。

５、為你的大腦而吃

你的大腦需要你攝取健康的脂肪。注意攝取魚肝油，吃野生鮭魚，堅(jiān)果（如核桃），種子（如亞麻種子和橄欖油）。多吃這些食物，少吃飽和脂肪。將轉(zhuǎn)化脂肪從你的飲食中完全剔除。

６、打破常規(guī)

我們喜歡常規(guī)。那些愛好和娛樂，我們能做連續(xù)做幾小時(shí)。但是越多的事情成為習(xí)慣，大腦將得到越少的利用。為了幫助你的大腦保持年輕，挑戰(zhàn)它。改變平常去雜貨店的路線，用你的另一只手去開門，用餐時(shí)先吃甜點(diǎn)。所有這些將強(qiáng)迫你的頭腦從習(xí)慣中清醒過來，再次集中注意力。

７、走一條不同的路

不論你去哪，走一條不同的路。這個(gè)小的改變幫助大腦練習(xí)特殊的記憶力和方向感。為了改變?nèi)粘Ｂ肪�，試著從不同的方向去雜貨店。

８、學(xué)習(xí)一個(gè)新技巧

學(xué)習(xí)一個(gè)新技巧可以鍛煉頭腦的不同區(qū)域。讓你的記憶力發(fā)揮作用，學(xué)習(xí)新的運(yùn)動(dòng)，用不同的方式將事物聯(lián)系到一起。閱讀莎士比亞，學(xué)習(xí)烹飪，用牙簽造架飛機(jī)，這些都將挑戰(zhàn)你的頭腦，讓你思考。

９、列清單

清單是樣好東西。列清單可以幫助我們協(xié)調(diào)各個(gè)事務(wù)。列出你所去過的所有地方，列出你所吃過的美食，列出你所收過的最好禮物，列出每天觸動(dòng)你的回憶。但不要依賴它們。列出你的購(gòu)物清單，但試著不用它們?nèi)ベ?gòu)物。當(dāng)你將腦中記得的所有東西都放進(jìn)購(gòu)物車時(shí)，再用清單核對(duì)一次。用同樣的方法為你“要做的事”列出清單。

１０、選擇一個(gè)新技能

尋找一個(gè)感興趣的事。這件事，你可以在家輕松地做，又不用花費(fèi)太多。例如用數(shù)碼相機(jī)照相，學(xué)習(xí)畫畫，學(xué)習(xí)一種新的樂器，學(xué)習(xí)一種新的料理方式或是寫作，這些都是不錯(cuò)的選擇。