Boosting Brain Power

There are many ways to boost your brain power, and they are simple ideas that don’t take a great deal of your time. The following can be done every day in less than 20 minutes a day.

Every day you take tens of thousands of breaths but did you know that 20% of the oxygen you inhale is used by your brain.

Oxygen is critical for brain cells so much so that they can live for just a few minutes without it. We don’t breathe properly, but it may be hard to accept that you aren't breathing "properly," but few people breathe properly. Ideally, you should breathe deeply from your diaphragm, (Belly breathing), not your chest. (Children naturally breathe this way until the constant stress of life retrains them to breathe shallowly.) So, the next time you are feeling tired, foggy, and mentally unfocused, take a 5-minute breathing break to flood your brain with more oxygen.

If you practice belly breathing a minimum of 5 minutes per day to reduce stress and bathe your brain in healing oxygen you will boost your brain power. In a hurry? Even taking just 10 belly breaths can help you relax and think more clearly.

Your brain is largely water and it takes only 2% dehydration to negatively affect your memory, attention, and other cognitive skills.

These mental effects can happen surprisingly quickly -- you can lose 10% of your body's water after one good exercise workout.

The effects of dehydration on the brain are so pronounced that they can mimic the symptoms of dementia.

So, the next time you feel mentally fuzzy, grab your water bottle. Drink, and relax for five minutes. Your brain may simply be signalling that it is getting dehydrated. The usual rule of thumb is "8 glasses of 8 ounces of fluid a day."

But a more precise way of determining how much water you need is to multiply your weight (in pounds) by 0.5. Your daily fluid intake goal is that number in ounces.

If you exercise, check out this online hydration calculator from the water bottle company Camelbak.

It takes into account variables such as your type of activity, intensity, duration, temperature, and even cloud cover.

If drinking water does not come naturally to you, download an app like Waterlogged or Daily Water to remind you to drink enough. To keep your brain fit and to boost your brain power to determine how much water you need, then start drinking!

Few people drink only water, so now is a great time to cover drinks that contain caffeine, the world's favourite cognitive enhancer. Enjoy your 10-minute caffeine break

Literally billions of people around the world start their day with caffeine to enhance their mood, energy, focus, and productivity. The source of your caffeine really makes a difference to your brain and in the way you feel. Traditional brews like coffee, tea, and yerba mate are loaded with antioxidants, flavonoids, and other beneficial compounds that nourish the brain and increase mental vitality.

But caffeinated drinks like soda and energy drinks are loaded with sugar and chemicals instead.

And there's nothing natural about the caffeine they contain.

That caffeine is a synthetic chemical that's almost always made in China. If you suspect that caffeine is contributing to your stress or insomnia, you are probably onto something.

Rather than giving up caffeine completely, consider switching to green tea which may just be the healthiest drink of all.

Green tea contains a modest amount of caffeine, only one-fourth of that found in coffee. It owes its major health benefits to two unique compounds, EGCG and l-theanine. EGCG and l-theanine work synergistically to promote attention, memory, and learning.

Both EGCG and l-theanine have the unique capability of altering your brainwaves, putting you in a mental state similar to meditation. L-theanine is renowned for its ability to put you in that sweet spot of feeling calm, yet mentally clear.

And unlike other caffeinated drinks which disrupt sleep, green tea's l-theanine can help you sleep better.

Some people though, especially those prone to anxiety and insomnia, find the downside of caffeine outweigh the benefits, no matter what. If that's the case for you, give decaffeinated green tea a try.

Drink caffeine in moderation from natural sources like coffee, yerba mate, and especially green tea.

Newfoundland humour

A Newfoundland farmer named Angus had a car accident. He was hit by a truck owned by the Eversweet Company.

In court, the Eversweet Company's hot-shot solicitor was questioning Angus.

'Didn't you say to the RCMP at the scene of the accident, 'I'm fine I'm fine?' asked the solicitor.

Angus responded: 'Well, I'll tell you what happened. I'd just loaded my fav'rit cow, Bessie, into da... '

'I didn't ask for any details', the solicitor interrupted. 'Just answer the question. Did you not say, at the scene of the accident, 'I'm fine!'?'

Angus said, 'Well, I'd just got Bessie into da trailer and I was drivin' down da road.... '

The solicitor interrupted again and said, 'Your Honour, I am trying to establish the fact that, at the scene of the accident, this man told the police on the scene that he was fine. Now several weeks after the accident, he is trying to sue my client. I believe he is a fraud. Please tell him to simply answer the question. '

By this time, the Judge was fairly interested in Angus' answer and said to the solicitor: 'I'd like to hear what he has to say about his favourite cow, Bessie'.

Angus thanked the Judge and proceeded. 'Well as I was saying, I had just loaded Bessie, my fav'rit cow, into de trailer and was drivin' her down de road when this huge Eversweet truck and trailer came tundering tru a stop sign and hit me trailer right in da side. I was trown into one ditch and Bessie was trown into da udder. By Jaysus I was hurt, very bad like, and didn't want to move. However, I could hear old Bessie moanin' and groanin'. I knew she was in terrible pain just by her groans.

Shortly after da accident, a policeman on a motorbike turned up. He could hear Bessie moanin' and groanin' too, so he went over to her. After he looked at her, and saw her condition, he took out his gun and shot her between the eyes.

Den da policeman came across de road, gun still in hand, looked at me, and said, 'How are you feelin'?'

'Now wot da fock would you say?

Was retirement what you expected?

The Global Atlantic retirement study completed last year had some interesting findings. 

Our Findings

Nearly two in five U.S. retirees are spending more then they expected and just under one-half of pre-retired consumers believe planning for retirement is more difficult for them than it was for their parents.

We also examined retirement spending among those with additional sources of income. We found that retirees collecting income from pensions or annuities are able to sustain significantly more expenses than those who do not.

The risk of running out of money is real and the want for an enjoyable retirement is also real. The findings show that the need is growing for Americans not just to accumulate enough money for retirement. but to have a guaranteed income stream throughout retirement- regardless of how long retirement lasts.

Retirees are cutting back on discretionary expenses

While the typical non-retired U.S. consumer over the age of 40 spends $2,993 a month, on average, the typical retiree spends 32% less ($2,008). Most common areas where retirees are spending less than pre-retirees include discretionary expenses such as:

Planning Regrets

The fact that retirees spend less than non-retirees may not be by choice, as more than half (55%) of retirees have retirement planning regrets. Top 3 Regrets

•  36% Did not save enough

•  20% Relied too much on social security

•  12% Did not pay down debt prior to retirement.

Methodology

The Global Atlantic retirement study was completed online among a random sample of the general U.S. population aged 40 and older. A total of 4,223 consumers participated, equally representing retirees and individuals not retired. The margin of error when reporting on the total sample of retirees and individuals not retired is +/- 2.1 percent at the 95 percent confidence level.

What makes people happy in retirement?

That's the question many of us have been thinking and writing about for years with all of us having different answers and reasons for those answers. What makes people happy is a better question to ask.

The science of happiness tells us that people who are happy share the following:

·      Strong Relationships. A major study followed hundreds of men for more than 70 years and found the happiest (and healthiest) were those who had strong relationships with people they trusted to support them.

·      A number of studies have shown that happier people prefer to have more time in their lives than more money.

·      But we need enough money to pay the bills. People's well-being rises along with income levels.

·      People who are happy take the time to stop to smell the roses. People who slow down to reflect on good things in their lives report being happier.

·      People who are happy perform acts of kindness, which boost their mood. Give your friends a ride to the airport or spend an afternoon volunteering

·      People who are happy stay active. Studies show that increased levels of physical activity are connected to higher levels of happiness.

·      People tend to be happier if they spend their money on experiences instead of things. Researchers have also found that buying things that allow you to have experiences, like rock climbing shoes or a new book to read can also, increase happiness.

·      Several studies have found that people who practice mindfulness meditation experience greater well-being.

·      Interactions with casual friends can make people happier, and close friendships — especially with happy people — can have a powerful effect on your own happiness as well

These things are not going to change when we retire unless you assume that older people are different than younger people. We are not. What will help us stay happy in retirement are those things that helped us stay happy when we were young. These items can be summarized as money, health, time and relationships.

So, as you plan for your retirement and look at all the opportunities for investments, take the time to invest in your own health, your friendships and your intimate relationships.  

The other predictors of happiness in retirement your health and friendships and the depth of friendships and the number of friendships that you have with other people. It takes ongoing investment and time and resources to be able to maintain those friendships so you still have close friends when you retire.

  

The problem is, men, and I am speaking for myself, are bad at maintaining friendships over time. Keeping friends is hard work and requires cultivation, time and energy. A man's social circle is at work. By the time they retire, they're relying more on their spouse for friendship and in an opposite-sex couple, they're relying on their spouse to spend time with them, to go on vacation with them and have lunch with them, and sometimes that creates a bit of friction in retirement.

Women, by contrast, invest more. Women have more deep relationships than men do by the time they get to retirement, and their circle of friends is not tied to employment, and they want to keep those relationships alive and so they may resent the time spent with their spouse who is trying to build new relationships. Interestingly, the research tells us that the happiest group of retirees are women who are newly divorced between the ages of 60 and 65.