Knowledge Building:

“Feel good hormones” are hormones and neurotransmitters that are nicknamed because of the happy and euphoric feelings they produce. They affect your mind, mood, and body.

  • Dopamine: helps people feel pleasure as a part of the brain’s reward system. Connected to learning and attention, mood, movement, sleep, pain processing and heart rate
  • Serotonin: responsible for boosting mood and also connected to memory, fear, stress, digestion, sleep, breathing, body temperature and addiction. 
  • Endorphins: are released in response to pain or stress so they are known as the body’s natural pain killers. Released by exercise, meditation, laughter and music. 
  • Oxytocin: is released during intimate social interactions with loved ones. It stimulates relaxation, reduces stress and anxiety, and fosters trust and psychological stability.

-Source: Harvard Health

In today’s video, we’ll explore 3 key strategies to help you develop practices for healthy brain functioning:

Strategy 1: Prioritize Self-Care

Make self-care a priority by ensuring you get enough sleep, eat nutritious foods, stay hydrated, and manage stress effectively. Healthy bodies promote mental clarity, productivity, and quality of work..

Strategy 2: Regular Exercise

Incorporate regular physical exercise into your routine to boost mood, improve cognitive function, and enhance overall brain health.

Strategy 3: Stimulate Cognitive Function

Consistently challenge your brain with activities like reading, puzzles, and learning new skills to boost cognitive function and enhance your workplace effectiveness.

By prioritizing self-care, regular exercise, and cognitive stimulation, you can proactively nurture healthy brain functioning and augment your overall well-being and performance potential.



Activity

When you notice signs or symptoms of stress, burnout, and/or mental fatigue, how do you respond to boost physical and mental performance? List strategies you take to “fill your bucket.” How do you check in with yourself to determine how they’re working?

Self-Assessment

Rate your current practices for maintaining healthy brain function 1-5 (5 highest).(Required)

Challenge

Complete 2 Cognitive Check In Exercises this week.