Keeping Fit: Mind, Body, AND Soul

When we talk about being ‘fit’ it is easy to conclude that we might be talking about workouts, muscles, and getting in top physical shape. Being fit, however, is a result of exercise for the mind, body, and ‘soul’. Exploring the ways we can use technology to help us maintain and develop an overall level of fitness is exciting and fun but ultimately it is up to us to understand and exercise all areas of fitness.

Exercising the mind

We all love a good puzzle game, a good noodle scratcher, something to get the hamster running, but does this kind of mental exercise (such as a brain training game) really have merit when it comes to a fit mind?

Scientific America stated in 2009 that while nearly 50 studies of this activity had already taken place “most of these early studies were done on rodents”.  Melinda Smith, M.A. (an editorial writer with a masters degree in psychology) suggests, in a recently revised article, that physical fitness including important areas such as sleep, food, and exercise all aid in achieving fit mental health. In her article “How to Improve your memory: tips and exercised to sharpen your mind and boost brainpower” she provides similar exercises to help  memory and cognitive skills as the ones found at Lumosity.com.

Lumosity is a website offering users  fun, engaging exercises for improving the brain. Lumosity.com grounds all of its brain exercises in extensive research and cutting-edge science from around the world. Under the guidance of their Scientific Advisory Board — which includes researchers from such institutions as UCSF and Stanford — their neuroscientists design their training programs to produce noticeable cognitive benefits. Using novel, engaging and constantly adapting challenges, our exercises strategically target brain areas such as memory, attention and processing speed.

Of course I decided to give it a try. …

Read the rest of my article at GamerFitNation.com