{"id":173,"date":"2022-05-12T13:05:44","date_gmt":"2022-05-12T17:05:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/brain-health\/?page_id=173"},"modified":"2024-05-17T14:10:11","modified_gmt":"2024-05-17T18:10:11","slug":"give-your-brain-a-workout","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/brain-health\/give-your-brain-a-workout\/","title":{"rendered":"Give Your Brain A Workout"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"pl-173\"  class=\"panel-layout\" ><div id=\"pg-173-0\"  class=\"panel-grid panel-no-style\" ><div id=\"pgc-173-0-0\"  class=\"panel-grid-cell\" ><div id=\"panel-173-0-0-0\" class=\"so-panel widget widget_sow-editor panel-first-child panel-last-child\" data-index=\"0\" ><div\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tclass=\"so-widget-sow-editor so-widget-sow-editor-base\"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t>\n<div class=\"siteorigin-widget-tinymce textwidget\">\n\t<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-777 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/content\/uploads\/sites\/156\/2024\/05\/Community.png\" alt=\"Engage Your Community\" width=\"190\" height=\"191\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/content\/uploads\/sites\/156\/2024\/05\/Community.png 248w, https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/content\/uploads\/sites\/156\/2024\/05\/Community-150x150.png 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 190px) 100vw, 190px\" \/>Physical exercise isn\u2019t the only workout you need \u2013 your brain needs to stay active, too! Science suggests that it\u2019s important to keep your brain stimulated and in shape.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Challenge Yourself - <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Mentally challenging activities may have short and long-term benefits to brain health. To keep your mind active, it\u2019s important to participate in activities that expose it to new topics. Here are three things to consider:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong>Play games!<\/strong> Crossword puzzles, Sudoku, memory games, puzzles, and reading are just a few ways you can give your brain a mental workout.<\/span><\/li>\n<li><strong>Try something new.<\/strong> Start a new hobby. Take music lessons or an art class. Learn a new language.<\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"><strong>Go back to school.<\/strong> Research shows that classroom-based learning has real benefits in keeping your brain sharp. Find a subject that interests you at your local college or recreation center. You\u2019re never too old to learn.<br \/>\n<\/span><b><\/b><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><b>Connect With Others<\/b><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Social engagement is important to your brain health, too. Studies show that people who are engaged with others have a lower rate of cognitive decline. That connection with others can also help to stimulate your brain and reduce stress and depression.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">There are many ways to stay socially active in your community. Following are just a few suggestions. Some are low-cost or free.<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Participate in a group or club. Consider joining a book club or a walking group in your neighborhood.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Volunteer. Find a cause that is meaningful to you. Help at your local animal shelter, library, theater, or recreation center.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Get involved with your faith community.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Get together (in-person or online) with family and friends on a regular basis.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4>Additional<b>\u00a0Resources:<\/b><\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.vccs.edu\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Community Colleges in Virginia<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/seniornavigator.org\/taxonomy\/menu-zone\/lifelong-learning\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Lifelong Learning<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/seniornavigator.org\/taxonomy\/menu-zone\/senior-centers\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Senior Centers<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/virginiaservice.virginia.gov\/volunteering\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Alzheimer's Association volunteer opportunities<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.virginia.gov\/local-government\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Find your local Parks &amp; Recreation Department<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><div id=\"pg-173-1\"  class=\"panel-grid panel-no-style\" ><div id=\"pgc-173-1-0\"  class=\"panel-grid-cell panel-grid-cell-empty\" ><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Physical exercise isn\u2019t the only workout you need \u2013 your brain needs to stay active, too! Science suggests that it\u2019s important to keep your brain stimulated and in shape. Challenge [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":390,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"tags":[],"class_list":["post-173","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Give Your Brain A Workout - Brain Health Virginia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/brain-health\/give-your-brain-a-workout\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Give Your Brain A Workout - Brain Health Virginia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Physical exercise isn\u2019t the only workout you need \u2013 your brain needs to stay active, too! Science suggests that it\u2019s important to keep your brain stimulated and in shape. Challenge [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/brain-health\/give-your-brain-a-workout\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Brain Health Virginia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-05-17T18:10:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/content\/uploads\/sites\/156\/2024\/05\/Community.png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/brain-health\\\/give-your-brain-a-workout\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/brain-health\\\/give-your-brain-a-workout\\\/\",\"name\":\"Give Your Brain A Workout - Brain Health Virginia\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/brain-health\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/brain-health\\\/give-your-brain-a-workout\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/brain-health\\\/give-your-brain-a-workout\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/156\\\/2024\\\/05\\\/Community.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-05-12T17:05:44+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-05-17T18:10:11+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/brain-health\\\/give-your-brain-a-workout\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/brain-health\\\/give-your-brain-a-workout\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/brain-health\\\/give-your-brain-a-workout\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/156\\\/2024\\\/05\\\/Community.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/156\\\/2024\\\/05\\\/Community.png\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/brain-health\\\/give-your-brain-a-workout\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/brain-health\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Give Your Brain A Workout\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/brain-health\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/brain-health\\\/\",\"name\":\"Brain Health Virginia\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\\\/brain-health\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Give Your Brain A Workout - Brain Health Virginia","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/brain-health\/give-your-brain-a-workout\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Give Your Brain A Workout - Brain Health Virginia","og_description":"Physical exercise isn\u2019t the only workout you need \u2013 your brain needs to stay active, too! Science suggests that it\u2019s important to keep your brain stimulated and in shape. Challenge [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/brain-health\/give-your-brain-a-workout\/","og_site_name":"Brain Health Virginia","article_modified_time":"2024-05-17T18:10:11+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/content\/uploads\/sites\/156\/2024\/05\/Community.png","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/brain-health\/give-your-brain-a-workout\/","url":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/brain-health\/give-your-brain-a-workout\/","name":"Give Your Brain A Workout - Brain Health Virginia","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/brain-health\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/brain-health\/give-your-brain-a-workout\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/brain-health\/give-your-brain-a-workout\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/content\/uploads\/sites\/156\/2024\/05\/Community.png","datePublished":"2022-05-12T17:05:44+00:00","dateModified":"2024-05-17T18:10:11+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/brain-health\/give-your-brain-a-workout\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/brain-health\/give-your-brain-a-workout\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/brain-health\/give-your-brain-a-workout\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/content\/uploads\/sites\/156\/2024\/05\/Community.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/content\/uploads\/sites\/156\/2024\/05\/Community.png"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/brain-health\/give-your-brain-a-workout\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/brain-health\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Give Your Brain A Workout"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/brain-health\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/brain-health\/","name":"Brain Health Virginia","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/brain-health\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/brain-health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/173","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/brain-health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/brain-health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/brain-health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/390"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/brain-health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=173"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/brain-health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/173\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":808,"href":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/brain-health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/173\/revisions\/808"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/brain-health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=173"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vdh.virginia.gov\/brain-health\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=173"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}