Brain Fit Coaching

Your brain is magnificent. Its ability to grow, adapt, change and evolve is phenomenal, given the right conditions.

Many of us worry about becoming forgetful, or worse, developing conditions like dementia.

GrownUps columnist and memory specialist Dr Allison Lamont, and her sister Gillian Eade have developed a programme called Brain Fit For Life, which teaches six essential skills to keep your brain functioning at its best for your whole life. Each class builds on the previous session and takes you through, step-by-step, all you need to know about the brain and the way it works to support a sharp memory.

According the experts, less than 1% of dementia has a genetic cause, meaning that there is a major lifestyle component which contributes to the development of the condition.

We tend to ask a lot of our brains, particularly our short term memory, which isn’t designed to hold as many items as we expect it to every day – in fact about seven is all it can reliably hold at any one time.

A tip from the Brain Fit For Life team is instead of overloading the short term memory, reduce the load on it. Either write down or record your to-do list or use multiple methods to embed it in your memory – visual, auditory or using other senses, to jog your memory.

It’s about taking control of your brain, so that you can trust it. Your brain uses connections called neural pathways for all its actions, both physical and emotional.

Simply, imagine you walked through a field of long grass. If you walked through once, you might see where your feet went, but the grass would bounce back after a short while. The more you walk the path, the more visible the footsteps would be.

It is the same for neural pathways – the more you practice an action, the stronger they become. Your brain can create new pathways over your whole lifetime, and it thrives on the challenge.

Along with not being overloaded, your brain needs care – it needs to be fed, watered, rested and exercised. While a regular care routine is important, it is equally so to ask new things of your brain, so that it keeps working efficiently. Learn new skills, try different ways of executing your daily routine (have you ever tried brushing your teeth with your opposite hand?) and be open to new ideas.

The Brain Fit For Life programme is also seeking new coaches to join their team.

If you have some spare time and are interested in becoming your own boss, Brain Fit coaching is incredibly rewarding – you will learn new skills, meet a wide variety of people and gain the satisfaction of helping others.

You can study and learn at your own pace, with expert support and assistance.