Healthy Lifestyles: How Stress, Nutrition, Physical Activity, Substance Abuse, And Nature Affect Brain Health
2.0 Contact Hours
Individuals' lifestyles can have a powerful impact on the health of their body and mind. The brain is affected by virtually every aspect of their life including their levels of stress, the foods they choose to eat, the amount and type of physical activity in which they engage, whether or not they abuse drugs, and whether or not they regularly spend time in nature.
Meditation and Brain Health
1.5 Contact Hours
Meditation is a mind-body practice with many methods and variations that are all based on the silence and stillness of present-moment awareness. Exciting research is showing that a regular practice of meditation causes physical changes in the brain that can be beneficial to mental and physical health. Meditation can also change the way the brain functions.
Music, Sound, and the Healthy Brain
1.5 Contact Hours
Whether you are listening to rock music in your car or listening to Mozart at home, music has an affect on your brain. Engaging in musical activity (listening and creating) involves almost every region of your brain. Music affects our brains, our minds, our thoughts, and our spirit.
Play and the Brain: Why Play Matters to Your Gray Matter
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“Act like a child” is probably not a phrase that is on the top of anyone’s mind. Yet, researchers are discovering that there are many health benefits to rediscovering our inner child. Play is vital to who we are as human beings and it is an essential component of a healthy life. Play is present in all mammals including human beings. In human beings, it is equally important for children as it is for adults. While childishness is not desirable, being “childlike” is.
Sleep and the Brain: What's the Connection?
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Do you wake up in the morning feeling sleepy? Do you feel sleepy during the day? A good night's sleep is as essential for your brain and your body as food and water. Sleep deprivation affects the brain in multiple ways, impairing judgment, affecting cognition, and slowing reaction times. Sleep quality affects our mental and physical health in ways science is just beginning to understand.
The Amazing Brain: Understanding the Basics
1.5 Contact Hours
The brain is an amazing organ. Weighing approximately three pounds, and containing approximately 100 billion neurons, the brain controls all necessary functions of the body, receives and interprets information from the outside world, and embodies the essence of the mind. Intelligence, emotion, and memories are just a few of the processes governed by the brain.
Wire Your Brain for Happiness
1.5 Contact Hours
The hidden power of everyday positive experiences can change your brain and change your life. Everyone wants to be happy and healthy. By focusing on becoming happier and creating positive experiences, research suggests that we will experience increased energy, improved immune function, increased creativity, improved relationships, and increased productivity. Happiness results in a healthier brain, a more vibrant body, and a longer life.