When sitting down to write this post, I thought to myself, I want to give bSmartGuide.com readers tips for creating a healthy mind during the mid-summer heat, because, boy, is that easy to lose when you’re going from Point A to Point B to Point C drenched in 90 to 100 degree heat, all while enduring the daily grind.  

If you’re a NYC resident like I am, the daily grind may include commuting to and from work, a 9 to 5 (or more hours than you would prefer), and hopefully an extracurricular activity squeezed in here or there, which more often than not, is mostly channeled towards keeping your body healthy.  

How often do you feel guilty for not hitting the gym or going to a yoga class on a regular basis?  I know I do.  I push myself to stay physically active but often forget that staying mentally active is just as important to maintaining a happy and healthy lifestyle during the summer months.  

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Below are my summertime tips for having a healthy mind this summer:

Challenge the Mind

It’s so easy to succumb to a monotonous robotic existence if my work keeps me focused on a specific area.  I’m not a scientist but I know that when engaging in autopilot activities, our brain’s neurons don’t have the opportunities to make new connections with each other, and thereby in non-scientific terms, our mind, with the summertime sun’s help, starts to melt.  A melting brain!? No, thank you.

Perhaps you’re like me and find it too easy to attend happy hours and weekend brunches with only co-workers or those people in my field of work. Alert, alert: go outside the bubble! No better way to challenge the mind than reaching outside your immediate circle of comfort and perhaps even challenging your past likes and dislikes.

Feed the Mind

I love to read but I can’t say I’m one to regularly attend book signings or readings.  However, I recently attended one because of a small personal connection with the author.  Ignoring any personal bias, I was blown away by the writer’s commentaries on her book.  During the previous few weeks, I had been feeling emotionally exhausted, had been tending to my life recently on somewhat of an autopilot mode, and even briefly debated relocating cities for fear that New York would mold me into a robot going through the day to day actions.  Following my attendance at this talk, I went away a newly refreshed and intellectually stimulated human being with a fresh outlook on life simply thanks to another person’s few words said, about a few words written. I stretched my brain to absorb the author’s reflections without previously understanding the subject matter fully.

Stimulate the Mind

Get out and see what events and activities are available in your local area that stimulate those neural pathways to keep your mind just as healthy as your body and dedicate yourself to attending at least a few per month; whether it’s a book signing, museum, or panel discussion with leaders in an industry in which you have no previous knowledge or experience.  I guarantee you’ll not only learn something new, meet new people, and challenge your mind, but you’ll also come back to your job the next day with fresh insights that could be valuable in your area of expertise. 

There are only so many hours in a day and it’s easy to allocate the only free time we can find outside of work to physical activities, especially in bikini season.  However, when is the last time you gave your brain a workout, too?  When you’re feeling down in summertime sadness, absolutely go work-out and get those endorphins going, but see if you can’t give up an extra few miles on the treadmill for a visit to a gym for the brain.

What are your unique and favorite ways to keep your mind happy and healthy? 

 

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