Sandra Sunquist Stanton - Max Your Mind: The Owner’s Guide for a Strong Brain

MAX YOUR MIND

Praise for

MAX YOUR MIND

The brain is the most intricate and delicate muscle of human anatomy and perhaps the most precious of our God-given gifts. In Max Your Mind, Sandra Stanton brings it front and center and reveals it to be an important hinge for the door of our lives. Highlighting its connection with our bodies, spirits, and relationships, she offers practical advice and helpful exercises to keep it in tiptop shape. Learning from Max Your Mind will keep this important hinge from squeaking and rusting out.

Albert Haase, OFM

Author of Catching Fire, Becoming Flame: A Guide for Spiritual Transformation

Max Your Mind was a great encouragement to me. This book will provide information and inspiration for all who want to remain open to Gods surprises.

Eric Alfrey
Childrens Minister, First Baptist Church, Columbia, SC Former Director of Kunming International Academy, Kunming, China

In Max Your Mind, author Sandra Stantons enthusiasm for the subject of brain health really shines through. The information is accessible and very easy to graspjust the perfect amount to be useful but not to overwhelm. The Reflections and Applications at the end of each chapter help make the material personally relevant to readers, helping them remember what they have learned and how to use it in everyday life.

Ann Brand, Ph.D.
Instructor at University of WisconsinStout

MAX
YOUR
MIND

The Owners Guide for a Strong Brain

SANDRA SUNQUIST STANTON

MAX YOUR MIND

The Owners Guide for a Strong Brain

2016 SANDRA SUNQUIST STANTON .

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, scanning, or otherexcept for brief quotations in critical reviews or articles, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

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The information contained in this guide is not intended nor implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice; it is provided for educational purposes only. Nothing contained in this guide is intended to be used for medical diagnosis or treatment. Connections of the Heart doesnt endorse any product or company listed in this book, and expressly disclaims liability for any product, manufacturer, distributor, service, or service provider mentioned.

ISBN 978-1-63047-551-2 paperback

ISBN 978-1-63047-552-9 eBook

Library of Congress Control Number:

2015900216

Cover Design by:

Rachel Lopez

www.r2cdesign.com

Interior Design by:

Bonnie Bushman

bonnie@caboodlegraphics.com

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To God our Father, the Source of my inspiration and Creator of our amazing brains and bodies.

And to Bob, my husband of 48 years, who has honored my dream and made it his own.

Do any of these experiences sound familiar?

Why did I come into this room?

I spend way more time looking for things than I used to.

Her name is right on the tip of my tongue, but I cant pull it from my memory!

If so, you are not alone! Once we reach a certain age, senior moments seem to crop up more and more. The good news is that our understanding of why they crop up is also increasing more every day. Decades ago, scientists believed the brain peaked at age nineteen. More recently, they discovered that our brains are under construction until age twenty-five or later, when the brain cells in our prefrontal cortex (PFC)that part of the brain behind the forehead become fully protected by myelin. Our PFC is where self-control, planning, and executive function reside.

As we all know, our brains do indeed fade as we grow older, specifically in the areas of working memory, processing speed, word retrieval, remembering where we learned something, and detail discrimination. Multitasking makes us forget what we did or said. We have only one main monitor, so as we age, we must choose our focus carefully.

But did you know that certain mental abilities actually get better with age? Its true! For example, our vocabulary and language skills grow with use. Were better able to pay attention to things that interest us. Our reasoning and ability to manage our emotions improve with use and maturity. Our dedication and willpower get stronger over time. Years of experience and broader perspective help us make better decisions, allowing both creativity and wisdom to blossom. We can celebrate and appreciate these God-given abilities and use them to create more satisfying lives.

Hold on for the best partin addition to the natural fade and boost the brain experiences with age, it continues to grow, change, and reorganize itself through our entire lives based on our choices: food, mental and physical exercise, musical training and expression, time and activities with friends, learning a new language, meditation, and even some video games have been proven to help use and strengthen the new brain cells our brain is constantly developing. New insights about neuroplasticityour changing or plastic brainhave revised earlier research that told us we were stuck with the brain we had as young people. The brain is a use it or lose it organ, so with a little work, it can stay sharper than we may have thought.

Id like to offer you some hope and encouragement to replace the disappointment and frustration you may experience when you forget things from time to time. In Max Your Mind, youll learn to combat the natural fade in your brain that occurs over time and to boost the benefits. Think of it as an owners manual for the fully myelinated brain, written particularly to help baby boomers, retirees, and those transitioning into retirement make sense of frustrating senior moments and deal positively with them.

As a board-certified coach and speaker, people often ask me, How did you get started with all this brain stuff? I can trace my interest in the brain all the way back to age thirteen, when our family moved from Morris, Minnesota, to Cumberland, Wisconsin, in the middle of the school year. As a brand-new teenager in a brand-new town, I longed for the relationships and experiences I left behind, but was amazed at how I was able to carry complete images, experiences, and even close friendships with meright in my own head! Replaying my multidimensional memories from Morris comforted me as I met and made new friends in the smaller but very friendly town of Cumberland.