Page 177 - Mind Games The Aging Brain and How to Keep it Healthy

Regain an Agile Brain • 161

ural rhythms. Moreover, remember from Chapter 2 that we
need proper sleep patterns to assist us with our memory for-
mations and cognitive functions (more on that in just a bit).
Your emotions can affect your body’s cycles. Blood pres-
sure has its own circadian rhythm, decreasing while you
sleep and rising when you awaken. Those people with
higher levels of anger and hostility lose this natural lower-
ing of blood pressure during the night hours. This elevated
blood pressure increases the risk of heart attack, organ dam-
age, and stroke. Don’t go to bed upset. You can do a nice lit-
tle exercise whenever you have difficulty sleeping because
you are stressed or otherwise upset:

1. Lie calmly on the bed.

2. Begin at the top of your head. Concentrate to see whether
you can contract your scalp. Tighten, hold for a second or
two, and then release.
3. Move to the back of your head. Tighten, hold, and then
release your scalp.
4. Move to your forehead. Tighten the skin, hold, and then
release.
5. Move to your eyebrows. Tighten the brows, hold, and
then release.
6. Move to your nose. Tighten the nose, hold, and then
release.
7. Move to your ears. Tighten the ears, hold, and then re-
lease.
8. Move to your lips. Tighten the lips, hold, and then re-
lease.
9. Continue the process down to your toes, taking small
steps along the way. Include each finger as a step, each
muscle in your arms, one arm at a time, one muscle at a
time.

(Author’s note: I have never been able to do this with my
toes. I have always fallen asleep before then. It’s a very re-
laxing exercise my father taught me!)