Top 17 Brain Exercises for Mental Sharpness: Build Your Mental Fitness

Introduction of Brain Exercise

Since COVID-19, maintaining physical and mental health has been a top priority for many people. While most people have been focused on exercising physically, did you know you can exercise with your mind? Or can your brain alter the level of attention and focus? Just as you desire to be physically fit, it is also important to acknowledge the mental fitness aspect. 

This is possible with the help of brain exercises. Brain exercises are simple activities to boost mental sharpness and promote overall great mental health. They can be included in our daily routine so that your brain power remains optimised throughout the day. 

Why Are Brain Exercises Important? And Their Impact on Mental Health

Brain exercises improve focus, attention, memory, critical thinking, mental stability and clarity. They also improve the cognitive function of the brain. This helps us in all walks of life - personal or professional. It is also used in clinical settings to prevent the mental decline in patients suffering from various mental health illnesses like depression or anxiety. Brain exercise benefits also extend to elderly patients to enhance their retention power. 

There are multiple techniques that one can perform. One such technique is the tDCS (Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation), which uses mild electric current to enhance brain functioning. It has a proven record of enhancing memory, boosting focus and attention and promoting mental wellness. 

17 Top Brain Exercises for Mental Sharpness

The following top brain exercises have been specially designed to help a person stay mentally active all day. They teach you how to train the mind and thus, lead to developing a better understanding of your mental capacity. 

1. Crossword Puzzles

One of the most effective brain exercises is crossword puzzles. They are useful for sharpening short-term memory.  Looking for words hidden in between random letters requires remembrance and attention.

You can look for crossword puzzles both online and offline. If you want to solve it offline, newspapers are the easiest option to look for. They are also available online on your mobile or computer. 

Solving crossword puzzles activates different brain regions, and improves our vocabulary and problem-solving skills. This helps us to hone our critical thinking skills. 

2. Sudoku

Have you seen people solving a lot of sudoku in their past time? This is because sudoku activates critical thinking and enhances mental sharpness. This is because you have to carefully plan your next moves and place the numbers so that they fit perfectly. It also enhances logic and sharpens concentration and memory.

The planning and placement of numbers also rely on the short-term memory of a person and hence it is a great method to increase our mental sharpness

3. Memory Games

Just like your body needs exercise, your brain needs it too! Memory games are the best brain exercises for your brain. Since the basis of these games lies in paying attention and remembering the objects, it helps to improve attention levels and memory.

From simple crossword puzzles to online video game apps, memory games facilitate active thinking, problem-solving and quick decision-making. 

When you perform such brain development activities while maintaining a good social life and creative hobbies, you will witness an improvement in your mental sharpness. 

4. Brain Colour Exercise

This is one of the most practised exercises to train the brain. In the brain colour exercise, the words of different colours that you see on the screen will be white. One by one, the words will pop up in a different colour. Instead of reading the word, you have to spell the colour of the highlighted word.

For example, the word “BLACK” has been written in yellow colour. So instead of saying black, you have to spell “YELLOW” and not “BLACK”. 

While this example might seem simple, playing the actual game gets very tricky. You have to maintain the speed and this is what enhances our memory and mental flexibility. Many children are trained with these exercises to train their brains and increase their awareness and memory. Learn more about how art therapy helps one to manage mental health issues.

5. Learning a New Language

Learning a new language not only means that you will become verbally diverse. Learning to speak a new language requires attention and you have to ensure that you remember all the words correctly. It can help you filter out distractions and make smart decisions easily. 

This mental brain exercise might not show results like the other activities do, but it surely impacts the way a person thinks, speaks and remembers things. Understanding and responding in a language other than your mother tongue builds new neural connections in the brain facilitating better memory and cognitive functioning. It depends on how to train the mind to respond as quickly as it does while speaking your native language. 

6. Finger Exercises for the Brain

Performing finger exercises for the brain simply means using hand gestures like “mudras”. Think of it as a brain gym since your brain gets trained to a great extent. The use of these exercises has been documented in our ancient texts.

They are more than just simple hand gestures, they are more like a silent language of their own. Mudras like Gyan Mudra and Hakini Mudra have been known to enhance mental focus when practised with deep meditation. 

Practising these mudras brings mental clarity, boosts knowledge and improves cognitive function. You can simply close your eyes, sit in a meditative state and use these hand gestures to work on your mental sharpness. 

7. Meditation

You might have heard people say meditation is the ultimate passage to mental clarity. Well…they are not wrong.

Meditationthe intentionally slows down our thoughts. It helps us acknowledge every thought one by one. Research shows that meditation has been known to enhance focus, reduce stress, and improve overall brain function.

You can think of it as a brain exercise where instead of urging your brain to stay alert and focused, you purposely slow down, making space for positive and uplifting thoughts. This improves overall brain function and promotes relaxation. 

8. Chess

If you are looking to enhance your critical thinking and short and long-term memory, chess might be an option for you. Chess is one of the best brain exercises as it requires absolute attention and staring memory.

It is a game of strategy and careful planning. If you are learning to play chess, you might know that you have to interpret the next move of your opponent before you make the current move. 

Such kind of intense thinking improves cognitive function, problem-solving skills and decision-making. 

9. Reading Books

If you are a millennial or a Gen Z who was born in the early 2000s, you must realise that your memory retention and ability to think diversely was far better than what it is today.

This is because, without the help of the internet, people solely relied on books to gain knowledge. Reading books helps to retain information better and also improve focus. This is because the more you read, the more neural activity is found in the brain.

It also improves overall cognitive functioning, which helps with the ability to recall information better. 

10. Jigsaw Puzzles

Jigsaw puzzles are enjoyed by everyone. The excitement to see all the pieces come together to form a picture is beautiful. However, jigsaw puzzles are not just simple board games.

They are one of the best exercises to enhance your mental fitness. Solving jigsaw puzzles boosts visual-spatial reasoning. It is the ability to perceive, analyse and understand the information in the world around us. 

Once you start playing jigsaw puzzles, you will realise that you have to remember every piece that fits the other. This improves memory and boosts our thinking. 

11. Playing Musical Instruments

If you play any musical instrument, rest assured that you will have very great brain health. This is because researchers found that the benefits included improved memory and a better ability to solve complex tasks, known as executive functions. 

Playing musical instruments also keeps the mind sharp and uplifts the mood. It can be considered a brain exercise since learning a new instrument requires a lot of time.

This also means that you have to stay committed to it for a long time and improve with every practice. This enhances memory, coordination and cognitive skills. So if you ever get bored of lifting dumbbells, you can switch them for drumsticks and see what magic unfolds!

12. Brain Teasers

Doing brain teasers serves as a great medium to improve short-term memory and mental agility. It keeps the connection between the brain sharp and enhances our ability to concentrate and focus.

When you are focused on solving a teaser, you are nudging your brain to think of alternate ways to approach a problem. This enhances the problem-solving skills of an individual and works wonders once you get the flow of it. 

13. Mind Mapping

Mind mapping is a brain exercise through which you develop and visually organize thoughts, ideas, and information. You have to think of a central topic and then create branches that are often the relevant categories related to the central topic. This helps us to understand concepts better and organize our thoughts so that complex subjects become simple. 

It allows you to get into the details of the subject without losing track of the bigger picture. You can also add images or annotations if you like. These mind maps can also be translated onto pen and paper. They are easily accessible and can help to creatively put out your mind map. 

15. Learning a New Skill 

Learning a new skill expands our knowledge and alters the physical structures of our brains. This is because learning new skills fires up the neurons in the brain and facilitates better neural connections.

The more neural connections are formed, the faster the messages travel in the brain. This expands our ability to perform and improves our brain function invariably.

16. Physical Exercise

Performing physical exercises like yoga can help to improve cognitive skills and form new connections in the brain.

They are not just for physical fitness but for mental fitness too. Practising yoga postures like inversions can increase the blood flow to the brain. This enhances our memory, alertness and awareness. 

While you are performing yoga, the postures help to release muscle tension and this leads to instant relaxation. It also reduces stress which in turn helps us to focus better and promote better attention. 

17. Visualization Exercises

Visualization means purposely picturing things that you want in your mind. Practising visualization can help you gain more confidence, mental clarity and focus.

When you gain mental clarity, your ability to succeed in performing the job increases manifold. Often, visualization is combined with mindfulness and meditation. 

This brain exercise helps you relax first and then carefully form an image in the mind that rehearses the events leading up to just the way you want. You can imagine anything you want.

It can be as simple as winning a beauty pageant or earning millions of rupees. All you have to do is sit in a quiet place, relax and picture your outcome and every detail that leads up to it. 

18. Listening to Music

Music activates almost all the parts of the brain and has been known to improve the cognitive function in people suffering from mental illnesses.

However, listening to music has also been known to contribute to mental sharpness. Research shows that listening to certain types of music enhances a person's ability to grasp and process information. 

Studies also show that the tempo of the music affects learning and stimulates creativity, mood and memory better than what other types of music do. For example, music with 50-80 beats per minute enhances brain function and enables quicker learning. 

How to Be Mentally Active All Day

Understandably so, it is natural to get mentally tired in the hustle and bustle of life. After exerting too much energy on a single task, you might feel mentally exhausted to perform other tasks with the same intensity. But do not worry, some exercises can help you be mentally active all day. If you are finding ways on how to control your brain, you can do one of the following.

For example, once you have completed your priority tasks, you can take a break to enjoy some mind-stretching games like a jigsaw puzzle, bingo, bridge, chess or computer games. You can also try to maintain social contact. It has been seen that social interaction helps to uplift mood and relax. However, if you are looking for solace, you can learn a new skill or enjoy your daily puzzle or crossword. 

Brain Exercises to Improve Focus and Concentration

Let us say you have many tasks at hand but all you lack is the focus and concentration to complete the work….what should you do? The answer is - Brain exercises. 

Mental brain exercises like mindfulness meditation, yoga and visualization techniques can help you to enhance your focus. For example, when you plan and visualize your entire day in your mind, you start your day with a renewed sense of energy and focus. 

Suppose you want to enhance your focus after an exhausting day at work, you can simply perform breathing exercises to calm you down. This will help you enhance your concentration and increase your chances of performing the task better. 

The Benefits of Brain Exercises on Mental Health

Performing brain exercises have multiple benefits. Most people use it for improved mood, stress and anxiety management, reducing the effects of depression, working on their mental fatigue and building self-esteem. While these are the goals that people tend to achieve with their mental fitness,  the actual brain exercise benefits are:

• Improved brain function
• Better concentration and focus
• Improved memory
• Reduced risk of cognitive disorders
• Improved mental alertness
• Improved creativity
• Improved ability to perform daily tasks

How to Incorporate Brain Exercises Into Your Daily Routine

If you are looking for ways how to train the mind, you can start by including mini-routines in your daily life. Suppose you have to rush to work early in the morning, you can take a break in the middle of the day to listen to music or play some memory-enhancing games online. It makes you refreshed and energized to perform tasks with better concentration.

Remember that incorporating these exercises into your daily routine will take time. You will have to be consistent in your efforts to make it a habit. The simplest of brain exercises can be doing a 15-minute meditation. It promotes relaxation and boosts focus and concentration. If you are looking for something more challenging, you can learn a new language or learn to play a new instrument. 

Common Myths About Brain Exercises

You might have heard a lot of myths that surround brain exercises. For example:

“After doing brain exercises, you can store memory like a computer”

“Brain exercises are only for children”

“Brain plasticity stops with age”

Statements like these are thrown around casually and many people believe it too. In reality, brain exercises are helpful for people of all ages. It is helpful for people who suffer from dementia, Parkinson’s or even mental health disorders like depression, anxiety, and bipolar disorders. Brain exercises like solving brain teasers, jigsaw puzzles and learning new skills improve cognitive functioning and boost attention and memory. 

How Brain Optimization Therapy Can Boost Brain Power? 

Brain optimisation therapy is the process of developing the brain's overall efficiency, resilience, and functionality. This type of therapy includes practices that focus on an individual’s attention span, problem-solving skills and emotional regulation. 

Brain optimisation is done to build long-term brain health and mental resilience. It includes targeted brain exercises and dietary changes. 

It helps to enhance the brain speed and improve a person’s overall cognitive function.

Conclusion

It is okay to feel mentally tired and not function at the highest potential. With added life stress and other environmental factors, maintaining mental clarity and focus can be difficult. For this, taking the aid of brain exercises can help a lot. Brain exercises are simple exercises that when incorporated into routine life, can help to enhance memory, attention, focus and awareness. 

For many, it is also useful for bringing mental clarity. You can start to enhance your mental fitness by performing basic brain exercises. Playing board games like a jigsaw puzzle or solving a crossword puzzle in the newspaper might do the job for you. You can also develop a habit of reading books.

They are known to activate critical thinking and imagination. Playing games like chess can be a big game-changer. It is one of the most intensive forms of brain exercise as it requires intense attention, strategic planning and problem-solving skills. 

You do not always have to be so serious and focused on the exercise. You can do some fun brain exercises that can include listening to music, playing instruments or learning to play one. You can also use brain optimisation therapies to enhance brain functioning.

At Mave Health, with the help of ARC-tDCS, a brain stimulation device, you can boost your performance skills by enhancing your abilities to focus better, become more aware and have better critical thinking. 

All the brain exercises can have a lasting effect on your brain health. So if you are looking to try to get those brain cells running, you can start to sharpen your mental health today. 

FAQs About Brain Exercises for Mental Sharpness

1. What are the best brain exercises for mental sharpness?

Solving brain teasers, crossword puzzles, reading books and playing games like chess can help you boost your mental sharpness. However, you can choose any exercise that you enjoy doing the most. If you feel like learning a new instrument or even learning a new language, go for it!!!

2. How often should I do brain exercises?

Ideally, a person should have around two to three sessions of 20-30 minutes of brain training exercises each week. However, if you are just starting, you can start by doing little by little each day and hence build a habit of performing it every day for a few minutes. If you can’t dedicate a few minutes each day, you can just focus on dedicating two to three hours every week. 

3. Can brain exercises prevent mental decline?

Research shows that brain exercises improve brain health. A lot of patients suffering from Alzheimer's and Parkinson's' are suggested brain exercises to slow down the effect of the illness. A study conducted in the UK showed that adults who learned to play musical instruments had better ageing brains than the ones who did not. So yes, brain exercises can prevent mental decline. 

4. What is the connection between brain exercises and mental health?

Brain exercises activate almost all the parts of our brain. It enhances the activity of the neurons which can help to boost memory, attention, focus, and awareness. By learning new skills and languages, it is possible to establish new neural connections that will strengthen the mind and lead to better mental health. 

Citations

1. Fernandez, A. (2020). Brain teasers, puzzles and games for teens and adults. SharpBrains. https://sharpbrains.com/brainteasers/
2. How to improve mental endurance - Chess Forums. (n.d.). Chess.com. https://www.chess.com/forum/view/general/how-to-improve-mental-endurance 
3. Lindberg, S. (2023, February 17). 13 brain exercises to help keep you Mentally sharp. Healthline. https://www.healthline.com/health/mental-health/brain-exercises 
4. MSEd, K. C. (2023, March 1). 7 brain exercises to strengthen your mind. Verywell Mind. https://www.verywellmind.com/brain-exercises-to-strengthen-your-mind-2795039 
5. Martinez, K., Martinez, K., & Martinez, K. (2020, November 5). Reading books can benefit your mental health. Step up for Mental Health - to Educate. Fight Causes. Change Minds on Mental Health.  https://www.stepupformentalhealth.org/reading-books-can-benefit-hour-mental-health/ 
6. Pti. (2024, January 31). Research says playing musical instrument boosts brain health in later life. The Economic Times. https://m.economictimes.com/magazines/panache/research-says-playing-musical-instrument-boosts-brain-health-in-later-life/articleshow/107298752.cms 
7. Rapaport, L. (2024, August 6). Playing an instrument or singing promotes brain health into old age. EverydayHealth.com. https://www.everydayhealth.com/senior-health/playing-an-instrument-or-singing-may-help-you-keep-your-mind-sharp/ 
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