As we age, some of the body’s neural pathways need reinforcement or new ones need to be developed, for proper brain fitness. As one of your body’s most important components, it needs to be exercised, in order to stay fit, just like other parts of your body. When you are a baby, these natural learning pathways exist, but as you get older, the links may become weak or disconnected. It’s believed that Alzheimer’s disease or other mental decline and memory loss can be postponed, if your brain power is boosted.

Brain gym exercises are believed to enhance your ability to learn, along with giving your brain a “workout”, using the physical aspects involved with mental stimulation. Several components included are proper hydration, oxygen flow, blood flow and stimulation, just like regular physical workouts require. In the case of brain gym exercises, the physical nerves throughout the body are used to enhance the entire nervous system, resulting in stimulation of the brain and offering increased memory or learning ability.

The various classifications of the 26 brain gym exercises can be categorized by several physical aspects. One classification is “Lengthening” activities, which reset the muscles to make lasting changes in posture and restores the muscles to their natural length. Since natural reflexes to danger or stress include contraction of muscles, this is an important “reset” of the brain’s activities, too. Arm activation, foot flex, calf pump, “gravity glider” and “the grounder”, are brain gym exercises in this classification.

Energy exercises support the neural connections between the body and brain. Brain gym exercises include pressing certain “buttons”, to facilitate focus, through fine motor skills. Brain buttons includes stimulating the soft tissue under the collar bone, to the left and right of the breastbone or the area over the navel, for example. Balance buttons are located just above the indentation where the skull rests over the neck and massaging this area can lead to better balance. Positive points are above each eye, halfway between the hairline and eyebrows. By applying light pressure or gently massaging, stress and tension can be released.

Brain gym exercises also include Midline movements, which focus on the left and right sides of the brain. To maximize learning, both hemispheres of the brain are stimulated for a couple of minutes, prior to a learning experience. Through the integration of the left and right brains, enhanced hearing and vision, breathing and stamina or improved left/right coordination, result. “Cross crawl” or belly breathing are examples of this category of brain gym exercises.

For those that want to keep their mind active and youthful, the proper workout is required. Brain gym exercises provide physical stimulation, which results in enhanced mental capabilities. When concentration, focus or memory enhancement is needed, it’s possible to give your brain the “workout” it needs to facilitate better function, learning and retention.

The question might be whether you need a “workout program” for the brain, but newer research indicates a dip in IQ can occur, when your brain isn’t working at full capacity. Research indicates IQ is a measurement that can rise and fall, even if it’s temporary. With brain gym exercises, the theory of “exercising” the brain includes a number of seemingly, unrelated kinds of tasks. The ability to solve abstract problems or retain information in the brain can be enhanced through increased oxygen and blood flow, hydration and the training doesn’t require large amounts of energy.

Brain gym exercises focus on basic tasks that include techniques for better posture, lengthening the muscles, as opposed to stretching them and using cross training of the left and right sides of the brain. It’s possible to use 2-minute massages, gentle pressure, isometrics and other low-energy muscular exercises to give your brain a boost, prior to a learning experience. Drinking water, belly breathing and visual, audio or cognitive “workouts” can lead to better performance in brain processing.

If you listen to scientific evidence, there are studies that conclude your brain may “vacation”, when you are away from learning experiences. As a child, you have a natural neural pathway system that incorporates all your senses, in your learning experience. The older you get, the more congested or “lazy” these pathways can become, unless they are exercised in a variety of challenging ways. It’s believed that teenager IQ can fluctuate as much as 20 points, in as little as 2 weeks. Could it be that they aren’t “working” their brain, properly?

As an older adult, Alzheimer’s disease and other memory problems can start to surface. It’s possible the “vacation” has been too long and there hasn’t been a regular brain-fitness program in place. To increase concentration and memory, it’s possible a few simple physical movements are all that’s needed to increase your brain’s capability, which is what brain gym exercises, entail.

If you wonder whether a brain “workout” is the possible solution to your memory or concentration problems, brain gym exercises are a good way to test the theory. Through 26 movements and techniques, (which are structured at different levels), it’s possible to boost your brain power and rebuild neural pathways. Your body contains a complicated nerve system that takes orders from and feeds information to the brain. It could be that becoming physically active and mentally-stimulated are activities that belong together. Boosting IQ is a side effect of the ability to learn and retain information.

Brain gym exercises are being used to teach children in schools, but they are also being used by the elderly, to increase their brain sharpness and fight off degenerative conditions. If your brain’s been on “vacation” a little too long, perhaps a consistent and successful “brain workout” is required.

Brain gym exercises have been used for enhancement of cognitive performance in Alzheimer’s patients, focus of ADD or ADHD children and even, the response times of learning disabled students. Learning isn’t an isolated function of the brain, meaning the body is also involved.  Your brain is divided between memory, attention, problem solving, flexibility and speed. Since it is the “headquarters” of the central nervous system, stimulating nerves may also stimulate the brain.

Brain gym exercises may include simple exercises and techniques. Much like a finely tuned athlete, there are certain things that stimulate brain activity, when coupled with physical activity. Known as educational kinesthetics or “edu-kinesthetics”, these activities provide a positive and clear path to better learning.

The first step of the process is to drink plenty of water, before or during the sessions. In addition, drinking water in stressful situations, such as taking tests or interviewing, can enhance brain function. Because the brain is comprised of up to 90% water, it helps to feed your brainpower, through proper hydration.

Another goal of brain gym exercises is improving blood flow to the brain, which improves concentration. There are parts of your body that can actually activate your brain. Take one of your hands and spread the thumb and index finger apart widely, then, place them below the collar bone indentations, on each side of the sternum, pulsing lightly. Put your other hand over your navel and gently press, at the same time. After about two minutes, your brain will be “switched” to the “on” position, which is why “brain buttons” is the name of these brain gym exercises.

Another of the brain gym exercises, known as the “cross crawl”, is helpful for coordinating your right and left hemispheres of the brain. Some left handed people may have heard the phrase, “being of the right mind”, but most right handed people primarily use only the left hemisphere of their brain, since opposite sides of the body are controlled.

Start by standing or sitting and putting your right hand across the body to your left knee, while raising the knee. Then, switch hand and leg, doing the same thing with the left hand to the right knee. After repeating this “marching” motion for about two minutes, both sides of the brain will be stimulated.

Belly breathing is one of the simplest brain gym exercises, since all that’s required is to breathe deeply, (instead of holding your breath), during physical exertion or mental activity that requires extra focus and concentration. Abundant oxygen supply is essential to enhancing your brain’s function.

By re-establishing the neural connections between body and brain, you can enjoy easier learning, regardless of age. Since all sensory information is sent by electrical signals through the nerves, your body is one of the most complex electrical systems on the planet. By using brain gym exercises, you support electrical and chemical changes that occur in your brain and body, during mental challenges and physical exertion.