Awesome Exercises for Your Left Brain

Although, the concept is now considered to be nothing but a myth, these activities will definitely prove to be efficacious in stimulating the brain performance in various ways.

"It's absolutely true that some brain functions occur in one or the other side of the brain. Language tends to be on the left, attention more on the right. But people don't tend to have a stronger left- or right-sided brain network. It seems to be determined more connection by connection."

― Jeff Anderson, M.D., Ph. D., University of Utah

It has been (or was) a general notion that when someone is called left-brained, the person's thinking is quite rational, while on the other hand, a right-brained person is more of a creative thinker who negates logic and follows eccentricity.

However, now these brain titles have just been confined to one's perception towards a person's traits, nothing more than that. According to the research conducted at the University of Utah, it is now out in the open that there is nothing known as right-brained or left-brained people. Your traits are in no way connected to a particular side of brain usage.

In fact, the truth is that both the left and right sides of the brain have an equal contribution to most technical and creative undertakings.

Exercises, be it mental or physical in nature, have always been helpful in increasing the productivity of the brain.

Irrespective of the categories we place them in―left-brain or right-brain exercises - the truth is that these activities will help stimulate this organ and give it the escapism it needs to get out of the daily rut that it's stuck in. In the following story, we shall be discussing exercises that can help your brain enhance its logical and analytical skills.

It could be anything from Sudoku to Scrabble to Crossword to anagram to any other game that calls for logic, planning, reasoning, and thinking, say, chess, for example! And you know what the best part is about playing these games? Not only are they highly stirring when it comes to mental application, they are highly addictive

This particular aspect requires a lot of thinking, or should we say, logical thinking and careful planning, so that the story has no loopholes in it.

In fact, to increase the difficulty level, try creating a complex plot before you even start writing the story, so that your brain gets engrossed into more of logical and sequential thinking, hence, keeping the brain going while it memorizes the story chronologically.

You need to plan, edit, add, remove, plot, and more, so as to put your thoughts aptly within that limit, hence, your brain engages in logical usage of words. That's one reason you should sign up on Twitter, if not for anything else!

According to the website, Livestrong, "Exercising the right side of your body wakes up the left side of your brain. Even writing with your right hand is helpful." The same rule applies in the reverse case.

Gottfried Schlaug, M.D., Ph. D., of Harvard Medical School/Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, states that, "findings show, intense musical training generates new processes within the brain, at different stages of life, and with a range of impacts on creativity, cognition, and learning."

Therefore, it wouldn't be wrong to say that, like writing, listening and learning music can also enhance one's reasoning abilities. It also helps improve verbal memory in children, as indicated by a 2003 study headed by Agnes Chan.

"Playing a musical instrument is a multisensory and motor experience that creates emotions and motions-from finger tapping to dancing-and engages pleasure and reward systems in the brain. It has the potential to change brain function and structure when done over a long period of time," says Gottfried Schlaug.

Your options are unlimited, as long as you choose something that challenges your mind. You could venture into learning a music instrument, a new language, or read a mystery detective novel―read, not scan through! The exposure that these activities give your brain is enough to boost its observational, reasoning, and other coherent abilities.

As you might have gauged from most of the aforementioned exercises, reading, writing, music, and physical exercising form the basic essence of mental stimulation. The bottom line is that your mind is what you train it to be. It will be confined to only those boundaries till where you permit it to be. Remember, true exercises for the brain must compel your brain to think beyond its defined limits.