10 Surprisingly Simple Things You Can Do to Recharge Your Mind

Your rest is the most important thing you can do for your mind. 

Our best way to rest is to sleep at night. During the key hours of rejuvenation, our mind gets a chance to shut down its major processes and get to the business of storing much-needed information. 

The endorphins that you get as a result of exercising work wonders for your mind. Researchers have shown that exercising improves overall brain function, long-term memory, and information processing skills.

Ask your mind to remember things that you would not ordinarily try to. 

• Recitation alone helps to build memory muscles in a way that helps our mind remain healthy. 
• Use it to create new habits by way of 30-days or 21-day experiments.
•  Erase some words from your vocabulary for the week or month. 

Create a renewed hope in the future.

Hopefulness and looking forward to the future fill you with positive feelings. Developing new mental pictures of happiness and success creates new neural pathways in your brain, freeing up some of those much-overworked brain cells.

Positive thoughts energize you and help to open you up to new possibilities. 

When you don’t have time to engage in a lengthy exercise, thinking positive thoughts throughout your day can help to keep your mind energized and help you feel refreshed.

Gratitude has been linked to decreased levels of depression, anxiety, insomnia, and physical illness. 

Make a list of 3, 7 or 10 things that are positive in your day and/or your life. This could range from having a car to drive, a job, best friends, or even a latte. 

One quick meditation practice is to follow the outline of a star in your mind while you deep breathe. 

For every point on the star, alternate your breaths, i.e., start at the top and take a deep breath, pushing your belly all the way out. For the next point, exhale deeply through your nose returning your belly to its original position. Alternate your breaths until you have drawn a complete star or stars (depending on how much you need).

Feeding yourself well can have a positive, energizing effect on your mind. 

Mediterranean diets have been linked with decreased levels of psychological conditions.

Take a break to find the creative parts of yourself. Put on some music and play air guitar and air drums to your favorite tunes. Get down on the floor and draw as you used to in preschool. 

It will give you a brief mental vacation and will re-energize you mentally and physically.