Authority Magazine Feature: 5 Lifestyle Habits That Support Cognitive Well-Being

It was an honor to be interviewed by Shawna Robins for this article featured in Authority Magazine!

(Click here to read the full article and to learn a bit of my backstory)

Here are the 5 tips I share in the article to promote cognitive well-being:

1. Embrace Your Inner Sloth

The world would be so much better off if we could all embrace our inner sloth every now and then. Our world is go-go-go, we’re in constant motion and everything happens at such a fast pace.

This leads to the increased production of hormones like cortisol and adrenaline. While these hormones certainly have their purpose, it’s not ideal for you to be marinating in them.

When you can slow your pace — even just the littlest bit — you’ll lower the level of these hormones in your body and actually be providing your brain with the downtime it needs to do things like process your day, think creatively, consolidate memories and restore energy that’s lost when you’re in a constant state of productivity.

This one has probably been one of the hardest things for me to implement in my own life. I was a single mom for a long time, so slowing down was not a concept I was familiar with, but I’m starting to gain some traction with it.

A few years ago, I decided to rent a cute little house just for me in Sedona, AZ for the weekend. The goal was to do as little as humanly possible (which was SUPER counterintuitive to the way I’d been living my life).

I read an entire book in a day, I started a puzzle that I never finished, I found a hilarious podcast that I listened to for hours, and I sat outside in a hammock taking in the view of those GORGEOUS red rocks. I stargazed at night.

I took naps. I slept in. And when I came home, not only did I enjoy my own company more, but I was so much calmer and more grounded for my family, too. That little getaway helped me realize the necessity of a slower pace.

2. Have More Fun

Simply having fun is one of the very best ways to boost your cognitive functioning. Hugging, laughing, moving your body in ways that feel good, and engaging in activities you enjoy are ways that we can boost the production of “happy” hormones like oxytocin, dopamine, endorphins and serotonin. All of these hormones impact our cognitive functioning in really positive ways.

It may sound silly, but it might be necessary to plan fun into your day. It’s too easy to get overrun by schedules filled with to-do lists, deadlines, meetings, and projects that we often arrive at the end of the day realizing we haven’t had the time to do anything fun.

This doesn’t have to be extravagant! It could be as simple as watching funny cat videos online for a little while. It could be watching a movie that makes you laugh or trying out a new hobby.

The next time you’re feeling frazzled or a little off kilter, I encourage you to do a quick check-in with yourself to see if you’ve done anything fun recently. Even just a few minutes of doing something fun can be a real game changer.

3. Give Yourself the Gift of Therapy

I know, I know…a therapist telling you that you should go to therapy — shocker, right? But I’m serious! We know so much more about how our brains and bodies process trauma and stress than we used to know.

Our bodies literally hold on to traumatic memories until we figure out ways to process and release them. When you wander through life allowing our bodies to hang on to stress without acknowledging it and releasing it, it will inevitably manifest in some sort of ailment, be it physical or emotional.

We know that lifelong learning and providing our brains with stimulation can enhance our cognitive function. Therapy is a place you can go to receive support for the stress of life, but it’s also a place you can go to learn more about yourself and to improve yourself and your life.

Learning new ways to cope with stress can reduce things like anxiety and depression — and when you’ve got fewer stress hormones coursing through the body, you’re setting yourself up to have much better odds of staying cognitively sharp!

Therapy wasn’t talked about when I was growing up, so that fact that it is much more mainstream now is a huge relief to me. I’ve been in therapy on and off for about 15 years now, and it’s been one of the greatest things that I ever did — and continue to do — for myself. To say that life is hard is the understatement of the century.

Therapy — with the right therapist — can make life so much more tolerable and enjoyable. I learned how to be assertive, how to stop panic attacks, how to identify and process and let go of traumatic experiences and how to figure out who I was and who I was not by going to therapy.

I went from a perfectionist with very little self-worth to a confident, well-spoken, self-compassionate woman who learned that by taking care of myself I’m so much better equipped to care for those around me.

4. Connect with Nature

Our brains and bodies are wired to thrive in natural environments.

If we think back to when we spent our days running from saber tooth tigers, we weren’t living amongst bright artificial lights, sirens, pollution from factories and all the human-made things that can so easily overwhelm us.

It makes sense that being in nature often has a soothing, calming effect on people.

The interesting thing is, the cognitive benefits of being in nature go far beyond simply experiencing more emotional wellness. There’s actual science that illustrates just how powerful an impact nature has on our cognitive functioning.

Folks who have time in natural spaces are shown to have increased attention, greater cognitive flexibility, more efficient working memory and positive cognitive development in the early years of life compared to folks who are only surrounded by human-made environments.

5. Get Your Yoga On

Yoga is about so much more than balance and flexibility. When you do yoga, your brain is all sorts of busy up in there just absolutely going to town creating new connections — it’s wild! A very specific part of the brain is engaged during the practice of yoga.

Activating this part of the brain actually results in increased cognitive function, and MRI studies show that folks who practice yoga have less brain shrinkage than their non-yoga practicing counterparts as they age.

You can hit up a yoga class, find free videos online or even check out books from the library about how to do yoga.

I started practicing yoga regularly about 13 years ago, and I can’t even begin to describe the way it clears my brain. I think of it as leaving everything that I no longer want to carry on the yoga mat. When I’m doing yoga, I feel physically strong, flexible and grounded.

And — without fail — every time I leave a yoga class my whole demeanor feels lighter and my brain feels so much more settled.

Sera Gray is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker in Arizona. As a neurodivergent therapist with ADHD, she is passionate about providing neurodivergent-affirming care to Highly Sensitive People (HSP) and adults with ADHD and trauma. When she’s not in therapy sessions she can be found with her nose in a book, hanging out in the forest or spending time with her family. Click here to learn more about Sera and here to schedule a free consultation.