Brisk Walk

I was listening to Dr. Sanjay Gupta talking about brain health on Sunday morning. He has written a book called Keep Sharp and he was promoting it as a tool to keeping dementia and Alzheimer’s at bay. It seemed like a bit of a rehash of info I had already heard: cut out sugar, eat berries, and keep active - the usual.

He also suggested that we try new things to “tax” the brain. Yes, crosswords are good, but if you really want to flex those brain muscles, try eating with your non-dominant hand. His advice was to build up reserves and resilience in your gray matter by changing things up. (And here I thought my daily NYT crossword was going to keep my mind acute.)

He also discussed the importance of social interaction. He suggested a great way to maintain brain health was to take a brisk walk while talking to someone. Apparently exercising all your muscles is also a key component.

Well,  I felt pretty clever when I heard that bit of advice because that’s just what I’ve been doing since COVID19 set in. Bill and I try to take a walk every day and we walk briskly and with purpose. More importantly, my husband constantly stretches my brain because of his seemingly unending reserves of knowledge. Admittedly, I am often in listening mode since Bill loves to be in teaching mode. And, like every good teacher, he quizzes me. It’s always a game – and I love the challenge.  We’ve been doing this sort of thing quite a while. I remember when we took long, long walks while he helped me study for the bar exam. I was pregnant with Will, Emma was just two years old, and we were living in the city.  It was a challenging time but looking back ,it was also magical. We would stroll around Delaware Park with Will in my belly and Emma in her Emmaljunga pram while Bill tested me on torts and  contracts and constitutional law. He was such a good professor. I swear it was his tutelage that got me through that scary exam.

This weekend, I had the good fortune of taking another one of those walks with Bill AND Emma (no longer in a pram and now a lawyer herself).  As usual, we debated a few things and it was a bit heated at times.  I came across this plaque on the Daemen College campus in the midst of our walk - which curiously I’d never noticed before.  

 

I’d like to add another element to all of this brain exercise advice: walk outside. If you can find a wee bit of nature, walk there. Breathe in deeply, look for the birds, examine the tree bark, and listen to the crunch of your boots underfoot. In other words, commune with nature. That may not be a recipe for good brain health, but it is food for the soul.