Unit 4 Loving-Kindness

I find the mental exercises offered in this course to be very relaxing. In the case of the Loving-Kindness exercise finding a loved one to focus on is very simple for me, it is my grandfather who passed away from brain cancer in 1997. I was able to visualize him for all the steps of this exercise. While the memory of his suffering still remains, this exercise helped me to relax and visualize the positive aspects of him and his life. It helped ease the heart ache still felt. I would recommend these exercises to my friends, family and coworkers. While it may seem strange or awkward at first, these relaxation exercises really do work.
I discovered an article that discusses the positive effects not only relaxation exercises have on the mind and body, but also mental tests or games that stimulate and make us use our brain in a different way. Mental exercises force our brains to try and make sense of what it is being shown. For example, one game they played with an elderly group of people required them to name the color shown on a projection screen. This seems easy but the word spelled on the screen did not match the color of the ink. The word orange was written in blue ink. Their first instinct was to say orange, but the object of the game is to identify the color of the ink. Exercises like these have been shown to improve cognitive function, and may help prevent Alzheimer's (Erb, 2012). While daily exercise for our bodies is important to maintain a healthy weight, exercising our brain is important to foster a healthy mind.

Erb, R. (2012). Mental exercises key to better brain function. USA Today, Retrieved from http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/health/story/2012-06-10/mental-exercises-brain-health/55497440/1

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