Sondra Kornblatt - A Better Brain for Better Aging: The Holistic Way to Improve Your Memory, Reduce Stress, and Sharpen Your Wits

Praise for
A Better Brain for Better Aging

Your brain is your most valuable asset. The more you use it, the less youll lose it. This fabulous book points the way.

M. J. Ryan, author of This Year I WillHow to Finally Change a Habit, Keep a Resolution or Make a Dream Come True

A welcome guide for boosting the clarity, coherence, and consciousness needed to optimize the workings of our mi nd-brain.

Dr. Joel and Michelle Levey, founders of wisdomatwork.com and authors of Luminous Mind: Meditation & Mi nd Fitness

A Better Brain for Better Aging is delightfully written and chock full of fun, exercises, and bite-size chunks of wisdom that are easy to digest. Sondra Kornblatts style is delicious and keeps the reader engaged and hungering for more, page after page. As you travel through this impressive jamboree of scientific research and breakthrough ideas from the major thought visionaries of today, you will undoubtedly feel the flames of hope and possibility for a better life being rekindled. I havent found such an enjoyable boost to my optimism in a long time. A much needed and very well writ ten book.

Ragini Michaels, owner of Facility Train ings, Inc.

a BETTER BRAIN

for BETTER AGING

The Holistic Way to Improve Your Memory, Reduce Stress, and Sharpen Your Wits

Sondra Kornblatt

Coral Gables, FL

Copyright 2009, 2022 by Sondra Kornblatt.
Published by Conari Press, a division of Mango Publishing Group, Inc.

Cover Design: Elina Diaz
Layout & Design: Carmen Fortunato

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A Better Brain for Better Aging: The Holistic Way to Improve Your Memory, Reduce Stress, and Sharpen Your Wits

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication number: 2022933230
ISBN: (print) 978-1-64250-881-9, (ebook) 978-1-64250-882-6
BISAC category code HEA012000, HEALTH & FITNESS / Holism

Printed in the United States of America

The information provided in this book is based on the research, insights, and experiences of the author. Every effort has been made to provide accurate and up-to-date information; however, neither the author nor the publisher warrants the information provided is free of factual error. This book is not intended to diagnose, treat, or cure any medical condition or disease, nor is it intended as a substitute for professional medical care. All matters regarding your health should be supervised by a qualified healthcare professional. The author and publisher disclaim all liability for any adverse effects arising out of or relating to the use or application of the information or advice provided in this book.

With love to my husband Howard, who died before seeing this book published. His active brain, loving heart, fatherly care, and deep spirit brought joy to our two decades together.

Contents

Chapter 3. Hey, Genius!: Intelligence, Memory,
Learning Styles, and Creativity

Chapter 4. Emotions and the Brain: When You
Cant See the Forest for the Angst

Chapter 7. Meditation and a Bigger Perspective:
Less Is More

We are confused about the brain for all sorts of reasons. First, no one can adequately explain how the brain produces consciousness. So, we are left with one gigantic mystery. Second, the brain is and isnt a separate entity from its host. In one sense it is, as when the skull is struck a painful blow. On the other hand, it isnt, as when we talk about a mind/body connection. Third, we chat about the brain in very confusing ways, acting, for instance, as if a scan of the brain can tell us what is causing our sadness or our anxiety. Add to all that the matter of aging, and what a curious, mysterious, maddeningand fascinatingplace we arrive at!

As magical as the brain is, it is still a material entity existing within the confines of cause-and-effect and the material universe. To take one poignant example, I had a colleague who was watching his weight and liked the routine and regularity of having tuna fish for lunch every single day. Unfortunately, the build-up of mercury over time, caused by eating all of that tuna fish, made him demented. His material brain could not tolerate all tha t mercury.

At the same time, the brain and its creation, mind, are quite magical. It is quite amazing that we can move from sadness to renewed hope just because a cloud has passed and the sun has returned. Our amazing brains produce that astounding creation, a mind, and that mind can write a novel, plan for the rigors of Antarctica, debate with itself in Platonic dialogue, and remember what dappled sunshine looked like seventy years ago. Just a few ounces of material, the brain, somehow produces a mind and consciousnessand isnt it our job to do two related things, tend to our brains and tend to our minds? Do we have any more important job than that?

We care for the mind by, for example, thinking thoughts that serve us rather than bad-mouthing ourselves. We care for the brain by, for example, eating foods known to sustain and enhance brain viability. We care for the mind by learning techniques to deal with chronic sadness and low-level anxiety. We care for the brain by taking medication to shrink a brain tumor. A healthy mind has its requirements and a healthy brain has its requirements. As we age, and if we are wise, we naturally add some new tactics and some new strategies for taking care of our brains and taking care of our minds.

In this book, Sondra Kornblatt provides a diverse array of tactics and strategies for taking care of both your brain and your mind. You take care of your brain by wearing a helmet when you ride your bicycle or your motorcycle. You take care of your mind by resolving unconscious conflicts and becoming more self-friendly. Sondra provides dozens and dozens of useful strategies that anyone can profitably employ at any stage of life, but that become even more important as we age.

Our brains are susceptible to anything that can affect a material, living organism, whether thats the build-up of toxins or the weakening of neural connections. Our minds are likewise susceptible to anything that can affect a mind, whether thats anxiety about ones money lasting or the knowledge of death. The brain has its challenges and its needs, and the mind has its challenges and its needs. In this book, youll encounter enough simple strategies to deal with both your brains needs and your minds needs to keep you busy and engaged for quite some timewhich is itself a mind/br ain boost!

In my own work, with coaching clients and in books like Why Smart People Hurt and Redesign Your Mind , I focus on mind. I am not a brain expertthe mind is my arena. But to live a long, healthy, productive life, and to give ourselves the best chance possible of remaining alert and aware as we age, we are obliged to pay attention to both our brains and our minds. This book will help you do precisely that. Your brain and your mind will thank you for that kind attention!