Be Happy, stay Healthy

In the news today, a recent study suggests that by keeping happy you may ward off heart disease. Does this mean that there is truth in the saying that someone is “heart-broken”?

(This is another story along the similar line on which I blogged last year - Meditation eases heart disease)

“US researchers monitored the health of 1,700 people over 10 years, finding the most anxious and depressed were at the highest risk of the disease. They could not categorically prove happiness was protective, but said people should try to enjoy themselves.”

“Essentially spending a few minutes each day truly relaxed and enjoying yourself is certainly good for your mental health and may improve your physical health as well.”

What do you think about this?  I think any adult who has faced stress or unhappiness will know intuitively that these states of mind are bad for their health.

This article brought to mind the fact that my alma-mater, Wellington College, introduced “Happiness lessons” a few years ago; Click Here To Continue Reading…→

Brain Training Gold at Winter Olympics

Canada’s first gold medallist at Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics used brain training.

The first few reports are starting to come out of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics, about those athletes who have utilised brain training technologies.  Various brain training systems are used by an increasing number of National teams.  However for many it is a closely guarded secret to gaining that competitive edge.

Sports Psychology has been applied for many years and is now seen is essential for any top athlete, whatever their sport.  The brain training I refer to is the Sports Neurology – a new field of peak performance giving athletes an extra edge.  This encompasses the maturing field of neurofeedback as well as more cutting edge systems as used by The Brain Training Company.

Click Here To Continue Reading…→

NSCA 2010 All American Teams

It is interesting to see that 4 of the top 10 members of the USA “NSCA 2010 All American Team” in sporting clays have learnt mental training skills with The Brain Training Company.

What are your goals in 2010 for your sporting clays, trap or skeet shooting?  Do you need to gain that mental edge?  Perhaps you should also be thinking about attending the same training course as these top level shooters?

Mental Training for Sporting Clays

What happens in an actor’s brain?

This is a fascinating article from the BBC.  It looks at what an actor’s brain is doing during a performance.

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By Nick Higham
Today programme

Original article here with additional video and images.

For an actor, the performance conditions weren’t exactly ideal: flat on her back in a large machine, under strict instructions to lie as still as possible, speaking in short bursts interspersed with the shrill sound of a magnetic resonance imaging scanner.

But last week Fiona Shaw, one of Britain’s leading actresses – who has in her time played everything from the tragic heroine Medea to Shakespeare’s Richard II – volunteered in the cause of science to spend an hour having her brain scanned while “acting”.

Professor Sophie Scott of the Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience at University College London wanted to know what happens physically in an actor’s head when they pretend to be someone else.

She hoped that scanning Fiona’s brain in action would be able to tell us.

Click Here To Continue Reading…→

Brain Training – saves money and you live longer…

The value of brain training is becoming increasingly black and white – you save money and live longer.  This month I have written two separate comments on recent research backing up the value of quality brain training.  However here I want to promote that the two are intrinsicly linked. Brain training in a corporate environment can save companies billions of dollars / pounds each year.  High quality brain training courses for an individual can mean you have more chance of living longer…

Facts:

• Stress related illness cost the UK £28 billion each year
• This is a 1/4 of the UK’s sick bill
• More than 13 million working days a year are lost in the UK because of work related stress
• Stress is thought to contribute to coronary heart disease (CHD)
• More than $475 billion is spent annually in the USA treating CHD
• Meditation, or relaxing the brain, can reduce number of heart attacks and stroke by 47%

Brainwave training is a simple and cost effective way assist with these issues.

Click Here To Continue Reading…→

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