10 Ways to Work Out Your Brain in five Minutes or Less (Brain World)

by Dr. Cynthia R. Green, PhD

Sometimes we have five minutes with nothing to do - you're stuck in traffic, for example, or waiting at the doctor's office. Why not make good use of that time and give your brain a little stretch? Here are 10 great mini-workouts you can do in just five minutes or less. Give them a try - you might even come up with a few others on your own!

1. Play a game on your cell phone for five minutes. (Not sure if you have a game on your phone? Borrow a teenager - they'll either locate those games or they can download them for you for about 99 cents a piece.)

2. Memorize three essential phone numbers that you don't know by heart. ( Really, by head - what does your heart have to do with it?)

3. Go through five client or project files you haven't used in a while and toss any papers you no longer need to hold on to.

4. Learn a new song.

5. Sit and just relax - for a whole five minutes!

6. Call you sister, brother or best friend for a five-minute catch-up

7. See how many different objects you can find in the clouds. (Don't worry; you'll remember how to do this once you get started!)

8. Learn a recipe by heart.

9. Doodle.

10. Marvel at all the wonderful things your brain can do - take five minutes to list the miraculous achievements of your magnificent brain!

Dr. Cynthia R. Green, PhD, is a nationally recognized expert in memory-fitness training and brain health, who recently collaborated with the editors of prevention on the book, Brainpower Game Plan: Food, Moves, and Games to clear Brain Fog, Boost Memory, and Age-Proof Your Mind in 4 Weeks. For more information, visit totalbrainhealth.com

The new location of Sun Institute NJ School of Integrative Health

CGI Holistic Fitness & Spa is pleased to announce the NJ School of Integrative Health is now located on the Second floor of CGI Holistic Fitness and Spa at

111 Homans Avenue, Closter, NJ 07624

Since 1999, Sun Institute, now NJ School of Integrative Health has been preparing professional leaders and practitioners in the fields of Integrative Health.

Full and part time students can enroll now  

For programs in licensed Massage Therapy, Yoga Therapy, Energy Healing and Health Coaching.

Classes begin January and February of 2014.

Please visit us on line at www.njintegrativehealth.com or call us at 201-225-9000 for more information on how to get started in a rewarding career in health and wellness.

Little Tea Time

Living in Northeast of the U.S, we are used to live in a fast pace environment. Everyone here seems to be always in a rush to do something. In our modern business world, what is valued more than anything is time. Time is money! To make more money, people pursue to be more effective and efficient to get more work done in less time. Quick or no breakfast, getting to work, quickly reading all the email sent last night, replying email, meetings, quick and simple lunch, processing paper works, following up with appointments, working under pressure and face pace environment. If not all, some of these I am pretty sure are part of your daily life. While we are sort of being driven by this kind of world that we have created for more profit, I wander what is the trade off?

Constantly working in this kind of condition, many people are very stressed and seem to easily lose their patience. This is definitely not good for mental and physical health. If you feel that you are so stressed and become edgy often, you might want to give yourself a little break whenever you feel that way. I see now that many are interested in meditation and exercise like yoga to strengthen their mental health as well as physical health. Great! They finally have found a time in their life to brace the mental health and release the stress piled from their work or just daily life.

But what if you don’t even have time for this? Then why don’t you at least take ten minutes a day for a cup of tea? This is not only to take a few minutes break from your work but also actually help you feel calm and less stress. That’s not all! Many studies show that tea actually contains many natural chemicals that help prevent certain cancer, cardiovascular diseases, and obesity. Isn’t this great?   

Having been in a stressful and fast environment all the time, you may already feel that you are damaging your health, being less patient and getting nervous or easily aggravated. Try something to stop this and give yourself a little break! I am sure you will be able to find at least ten minutes a day for a cup of tea.

What is Insomnia? (Article from Brain World)

   Sleep is necessary for life. Even if we're not exactly sure of all of the benefits of sleep to our mental, physical and emotional health, we know that any breakdown in the body's ability to sleep will certainly have its share of consequences.
   Insomnia is a fairly ubiquitous disorder that can lead to a host of undesirable problems, such as emotional highs/lows, decreased work performance and increased risk factors for and correlations with other medical disorders or conditions. According to the second edition of the International Classification of Sleep  Disorders(ICSD2), primary insomnias exhibit many faces, presenting both acutely or chronically while being further categorized into multiple subtypes that may or may not also include combinations of other medical disorders and conditions.
   Though approximately only 10% of individuals suffer from chronic insomnia, up to one-third of populations in industrialized countries have reported disturbances in their sleep at some point in their lives. For example, in the United States, Sleep disturbances have been reported in approximately 30% of the population, with 10% actually exhibiting impairments from the effects of insomnia. Today, the etiology of insomnia remains poorly understood, with proposed mechanisms that are thought to be a combination of negative cognitions and improperly regulated physiology. Cognitive aspects leading to insomnia are considered to be related to negative thoughts and behaviors. Examples of this can be attributed to personal predispositions such as excessive worrying, experiencing stressful life events and/or inappropriate napping leading to improper regulation of waking states.
   Within the proposed physiological aspects involved in insominas, hyperarousal has been most studied. This idea is based on the possibility that the body either has elevated base levels of arousal overall - i.e., increased heart rate, fight-or-flight responses, adrenaline-or that it cannot tone down the usual state of waking arousal at night when it needs to. Other less-studied physiologic correlates of insomnias involve incorrectly regulated circadian rhythms and/or sleep homeostasis, which  is the regulated balance between the necessary intensity and length of sleep the body needs.
   It is important to remember that while the aforementioned cognitive, behavioral and physiologic mechanisms underlying insomnia are studied independently, what is widely believed is more that insomnias develop due to a complex interplay between several of the proposed mechanisms.

by David Yang

Visualize Your Way To Your Best Reality

Visualization is a powerful technique that can alter our thinking and thereby our reality. By now you may have experienced visualization techniques taught in classes or on DVDs at home. Taking a second look at visualization might be just what you need to add some passion and creativity to your life.

It is interesting to note that each person processes life on planet earth using different dominant senses, so it is no wonder that we are each “in our own little world!” Some people experience sound as a dominant sense while others may be more visually oriented. What is important to realize here is that regardless of the dominant sense, our brain is constantly processing our experience, and as we go about the day, we are creating responses and situations that are in alignment with our most powerful and present thoughts.

This is where developing skills of visualization can help us realize our dreams and goals. By “feeding” our brain thoughts that conjure up positive images and healthy emotional responses toward things we feel passionate about, we teach ourselves how it will feel to be in the imagined situation. In a sort of “practice until it’s perfect” sense, as we learn to visualize desired outcomes to situations and interactions, we create dominant thought patterns in a positive pattern that begins to affect all aspects of our relationships and our life.

So, how do we fine tune and fortify this skill? Let’s begin by answering the question: How do you see your truly fulfilled self?

Find Your Passion

What are you passionate about? Allow positive thoughts to bloom in your mind. Image what it feels like to experience that activity which you love. Fill yourself with the energy that surrounds an idea that is on purpose. Pay attention to what kindles the fires of your imagination and make journal notes as you discover hidden aspects of yourself.

Recall Your Pinnacle Moments

Recall past moments where you enjoyed a high point, or when you felt as though your experience truly fed your soul. Relive the moment in your mind and recall as much detail from your five senses as possible. Keeping detailed ‘movies’ of pinnacle experiences readily available in your memory helps your body and brain bathe in the euphoria and sense of well-being, success and achievement that is alive and present within the field of pure potential for each of us.

Carry the Feeling of the Experience Forward

Use your Pinnacle Moments as a touchstone or reference point against which desired experiences can be measured or evaluated. Next, create imagined moments where the energy is a match, or, even better, exceeds it! Remember, your brain does not know the difference between an imagined experience and an actual experience. Carry the feeling of the imagined experience forward as you dream and expand your potential. Feed your mind well and you will begin to see changes in yourself and your world - the sky’s the limit here!

by L.A. Trombetta