Brain Floss

Have you ever been told about how important it is to brush your teeth and floss? I hope your answer is yes! From our parents to our dentist, they remind us of the vital element of keeping ourselves healthy. For our community in Lincoln, we try to pass this same advice on to the body and the mind.

We know how important exercise is, we know how important the food we need to thrive and fuel our days, but what are we doing for our mental health? If you saw my recent Facebook Live, I spoke about men’s mental health and the significant impact of doing a task that uses 5% of our brains which helps the body destress. 

Here are my top tips for keeping the mind stimulated and healthy: Pick one this week, get the kids involved, get your Gran involved, go and connect and have a healthy body and mind:

1. Connection: Still regarded as the most important thing for our mental health, go connect with someone. A good friend of mine today messaged me saying he felt lonely. I told him that a connection is waiting for him if he is willing to be brave and go make it. So those who have lots of friends and those who do not, if someone says hello, say hello back. Ask them how they are, you never know how much you can change your community with a simple ‘hello’.

2. Challenge your brain: Puzzle time, crosswords, Sudoku, game of cards, Guess Who, if you are in the car with the kids play the name game.

3. Be silly: This is by far one of my favourite things. Why as adults do we lose the silly part of us that we had as a child? So go climb a tree, go knock on a door and run away, get your pen and draw a moustache on the person on your newspaper.

4. Change your environment: Get out there. Go for a walk in the forest, take a trip to the seaside, challenge your brain with new sites, sounds, and smells.

5. My last top tip is to ask yourself what you need: I really mean it, out loud say “what do I need today”? Is it sleep? Is it more water? Is it a cuddle? Slow down for 5 minutes and just ask, the body will tell you, we just have to listen.

I wish you all a wonderful Summer! I can’t wait to hear your stories.

With Love,
John