Think Tank: The Neuro Blog
Experience Your Best Sleep Yet With These 4 Tips
Do you ever wish you could go back to your good ol’ childhood days when you were literally forced and begged by your parents to sleep? Sad reality check but…those days are. Now that you’re an adult, it’s the other way around. In between your busy schedule of both work and leisure, you are the one begging yourself for a quick power nap.
Learn more
Battling Burnout: Ways College Student-Athletes Can Find Balance
Class, practice, homework, repeat. It’s a vicious cycle. Day after day and week after week, college student-athletes put their minds and bodies to the test. They show up early and stay late even with an upcoming paper and two exams. Countless collegiate competitors also struggle to maintain a halfway-decent sleep schedule. Downtime? Forget about it. These unhealthy tendencies have detrimental consequences: physical, emotional, and mental wear and tear. Triggered by over-engagement and chronic stress, burnout is a state of extreme exhaustion. It can affect performance in the classroom and on the field. Student-athletes often lose that fiery passion that was once ablaze. What remains is a withering flame. How can you, a dedicated student-athlete, break the cycle? You’ve proven your grit but have recently noticed a change. When no one’s watching, defeat overwhelms you. While positive change is easier said than done, there’s still a chance to regain what once was. Summer is here, offering an opportunity to find stability. Here’s your guide to reclaiming that work-life balance. Afterall, life is too short to experience anything short of happiness. Listen to Your Body Your body sends signals to show what it needs to function at its best. For instance, low energy levels may imply a lack of nourishment. During the summer months, incorporate beneficial remedies for fatigue. To start, try new pre- and post-workout recipes. A granola bar before hitting the gym doesn’t always provide enough nutrients. And after an intense practice, it’s crucial to consume foods that help you recover and build muscle. Check out these delicious and nutritious options! Please note that each body is different. The following are only suggestions. Pre-workout Options Blueberry-banana smoothie with plant-based protein Add a natural sweetener, like stevia or honey. Nonfat Greek yogurt with fruit Avocado toast Homemade trail mix Add your favorite nuts, seeds, and dried fruit. Post-workout Options Three-egg omelette with spinach and tomato Vegan alternative: tofu scramble Grilled white-meat chicken and a plain baked potato Salmon or tuna with roasted vegetables Short on time? Try frozen veggies! With a few new recipes up your sleeve, take a trip to the grocery store. Make a meal for you and your workout buddy, and appreciate your newfound vigor and vitality. If you’re aiming to optimize your stamina, take a moment to learn about Neuro Gum and Mints. The Energy & Focus products contain natural caffeine, L-theanine, and B-vitamins to boost endurance. This summer, discover your potential, and feel the difference with robust energy. Put Your Mind at Ease Your mental health and emotional wellbeing are crucial to your success as a student-athlete. Feed your mind like you feed your body. Explore the world of meditation and mindfulness, and find a technique that works for you. Guided meditation can help you stress less and sleep better. Regardless of your level of experience, this activity may allow you to strengthen a muscle that could benefit from some exercise. There is no question that Neuro Calm & Clarity Mints have the utmost potential to ease tension. Breathe deeply, and observe your thoughts and emotions in a relaxed state. Expand Your Support System Your coach and teammates always have your back, am I right? But it’s good to know who else you can lean on for guidance and support. Create an open dialogue with your professors. These guys and gals want to see you succeed in all aspects of life. (Even though that curveball on a recent test might make you think otherwise!) Once your schedule is set for the fall semester, shoot your professors an introductory email. Share a little about yourself, such as your involvement in athletics. Be sure to express your excitement for your professors’ courses, too. A short and sweet message will go a long way. It will help once you’re in season and have to miss class for a game or request an extension. Most importantly, it will help relieve stress and anxiety. You and your professor will be able to construct a game plan to help you get the work done. Simply put, consistent communication is key. Your school most likely offers professional counseling services. Ask your coach to point you in the direction of these resources. Talk therapy can allow you to better understand and work through your struggles. The Home Stretch Olympic medalist and New York Times bestseller Apolo Anton Ohno once declared, “Passion is the spark for everything. Without passion, you won’t do something 100%. That’s the bottom line.” As a student-athlete, your ultimate goal is academic and athletic success. You were recruited for your competitive drive and leadership qualities. You’re also human; sometimes the flame loses its spark. After hitting a low point, you’re ready to reignite that fiery passion. Neuro Ideal State Mints provide the balance and stability you’ve been searching for. A combo pack of Energy & Focus and Calm & Clarity is recommended to help you get back on track and stay on track. Hero Image by Element5 Digital on Unsplash
Learn more
5 Ways to Handle with Holiday Stress
Well, would you look at that, a few more weeks and the 2020 Holidays are almost here. It’s like you woke up from New Year’s Eve, worked a little, blinked, got locked down, wore a mask, got locked down a little bit more and before you know it, you’re almost to the end of the year. For many, 2020 is a runaway winner for the longest and shortest year ever award. The holiday season, inasmuch as you look forward to all its merriment and supposed festive and enjoyable vibe, brings with it a slew of stress-inducing scenarios. Holiday stress can come in different shapes, sizes and forms. Whether it’s the inappropriate comments from friends and family about your weight, your work, status of your love life or the amount of stress you have to deal with doing all the meals, gifts and everything in between - you know it, you’ve heard it and you’ve had enough of it. Adding the inevitable COVID-19 stress into the mix and you’ll definitely find yourself asking - is there a way out of this? Here are some tips on how to handle the upcoming holiday season, and all the stress that go along with it: Stress may not always be the enemy You know very well that stress is all around you - it’s an inevitable part of life and it’s something that’s just always going to be there no matter what you do. According to psychologist and researcher Kelly McGonigal, your stress response is your body’s reaction to counter external risks and threats. Changing your mindset towards stress can change your body’s reaction to it. While stress may very well be inevitable, its harmful effects don't always have to be. Instead of seeing stress as something meant to bring you down, you can see it as something that allows you to rise to the occasion, an impetus signalling you to be better because you can. Planning is your friend As with any situation in life, anticipation is always one of the best things you can do to make sure you’re prepared. Plan ahead and take note of possible scenarios and have contingency plans for them. In this time of flight cancellations and lockdowns, keep yourself updated on last minute crucial information you might need. If you’re in charge of hosting dinners or throwing parties (subject of course to social distancing regulations in your area), you can start by planning your menu ahead of time. Writing them down and allowing yourself enough time for the grocery shopping, ordering and preparing will lessen the chances of forgetting anything. Make sure to allow time and resources for clean up too. Planning also means you have enough flexibility for changes and surprises. Life will always be life and it won’t be what it is without surprises. Have enough room in your plans for something unexpected and use the preparedness that you have to deal with it. Take advantage of responsible online shopping As if you need more reason to shop online, right? Holidays are a great time for awesome sales, discounts and other promotional offers that will probably make your bank account cry a little. Take advantage of these sales but make sure to be responsible. If you’re still scared to go out of the house and mingle with people but you still want to get your holiday gift game strong, there are a lot of online stores that you can shop at and they probably even have more options for you. Just make sure to be responsible - make a list and set a shopping budget. Setting a budget isn’t enough though, you need to have sufficient willpower to stick to it. Take control - it’s okay to say “no” How many times have you said “yes” when you meant to say “no”? How many times have you found yourself doing something or going somewhere just because you don’t want to offend someone? Saying “yes” when you don’t want to can make you resentful and overwhelmed. It may seem okay and harmless in small doses, but if these feelings pile on top of each other, chances are you have an emotional ticking time bomb in your hands. However way it explodes, it’s not going to be pretty. Take control of your life because it is yours and it’s the only one you’re going to have. Say no when you need to and agree only if you do. Ask help if you need to We’re always told “when the going gets tough, the tough gets going”. It doesn’t necessarily mean the tough needs to go alone, right? Sometimes even the toughest of toughs needs a steady hand to hold or a shoulder to cry on - holiday season or not. When things are becoming too much and it’s a little harder to bear, reach out to someone whom you know can help you clear your head. Your mental health should be a priority because that dictates everything. In conclusion, don’t let the stress of the upcoming Holiday Season get you down. Holidays are fun! It’s a season of being together, laughing together and remembering how everyone stood strong together. It’s a reminder that no matter how long/short this year was, there’s always new beginnings to look forward to. Hero Image by Clay Banks on Unsplash.
Learn more
3 Ways to Improve Your Sleep
Whoever said “sleep is for the weak” is not only downright lying, they’re delusional. A healthy amount of sleep plays a huge role in promoting and maintaining a person’s good health and overall well being. How active, alert and productive you are during your waking hours is partly determined by the quality of sleep that you get. A good night’s sleep will help you be happier and more focused, while the lack of it makes you less motivated and impulsive. While you sleep, your brain stores new information you learned during the day, improving your memory. Your body repairs damaged cells and restores lost energy, making you ready for another day. Imagine all these important biological processes not happening because you’re not getting enough sleep? In addition, lack of adequate sleep is linked to several serious health conditions such as obesity, heart disease and depression. Yikes! Now that you know how important sleep is to your health, why don’t you give your body some well deserved zzz’s tonight? We’ve listed down some tips to help you get a good night snooze: BEDROOM = OASIS Make your bedroom into your own personal oasis - a place where you go to rest, recoup and re-energize for the next day’s battles. Now that more and more people are working from home, it’s so easy to just get your laptop and work right at your bed! While this may seem gratifyingly rewarding and harmless the moment you’re doing it, it may not be doing you and your sleeping habits a favor in the long run. Your brain has a different conditioning for when you’re working and for when you’re sleeping. If you mix the spaces where you do these two distinct activities, your brain will be confused. Instead of your brain associating the comfort and warmth of your bed to sleep and rest, it may associate it with the focus and alertness required when you’re working, making it difficult to power down. As much as possible, and to encourage a better quality of sleep for you, try to remove all work-related materials such as computers and laptops out of the bedroom, so you can increase your mental association between your bedroom and sleeping. Invest in sleep inducing bedroom essentials! Part of #adulting is being attuned to self-care, and getting a good quality pillow with a good quality mattress from your trusty shop is one of the first steps. Grab a relaxing sleep essential oil while you’re in there too. SLEEP WHEN YOU’RE TIRED How many times have you gone to bed and just frustratingly rolled over several times because you can’t snooze off? Try sleeping for about 20 to 30 minutes and if you’re still up without any sign of dozing off soon, try doing something else like folding the laundry or reading a book so you can give your brain the space to calm down. Before going to bed, you can also try having hot tea or a nice warm shower to ready yourself for a nice slumber. Try, with as much self control as you possibly can, not to check your phone or watch TV because these screens will only excite your brain more, not relax it. Also, try not to look at your bedroom clock when you can’t sleep, it will only make sleeping harder and more stressful for you. MAKE SLEEP A PRIORITY You’ve gotten so accustomed to doing things non-stop that most of the time while you carefully plan your priorities and the way you approach things, you forget to include time to rest and sleep. You tend to think you’re invincible and you can just go on and on without resting. Newsflash, you’re not and no one else is. You need to acknowledge the fact that even if you are oozing with so much youth and energy during the day, you also need to power down and at some point, hit the sack. Incorporate sleep as part of your schedule and try to stick to it as much as you can. Dedicate 8 hrs every day for sleeping and try to go to bed around the same to reinforce the body’s sleep-wake cycle. Also, the next time you’re planning or working on something, may it be a big project or an event, make sure to set aside time to rest and sleep. While pulling an all-nighter seems to be the most viable option to finish a project, doing it often will only make you more unproductive, not to mention more prone to diseases, in the long run. Sleep, although a bit underrated because it’s “boring”, has a whole plethora of benefits that shouldn’t be overlooked. If you have tried the tips mentioned above and nothing seems to improve your sleep quality, try consulting with a sleep doctor to check what other changes you need to do to make you sleep better. The quality of your sleep is almost just as important as the quantity of it. If you’re sleeping for 7 hours but you wake up several times during the night, try reevaluating your sleeping habits and patterns and effecting change. Your body will thank you for it. It’s almost a cliche to say to take good care of your body because you’re only getting one in this lifetime, but the truth is, you really should. So no, sleep isn’t for the weak, in fact, it’s only done by the strong. Hero Image by Alexandra Gorn on Unsplash.
Learn more
Some Good Habits for Students Before Sleep and Why
The life of a student is hectic. Trying to balance daily life with strenuous study may be enough to keep anyone up at night. This may be further exacerbated by late nights cramming or hanging out with “study groups” the night before the big test. Is this just the way student life goes? Not necessarily. There are good habits you can pick up to make your hours easier and more efficient.
Learn more
5 Habits That Could Be Wrecking Your Sleep
Never underestimate the power of a good night’s sleep. In fact, poor sleep quality and sleep disorders are among the most common, yet most frequently overlooked and readily treatable health problems today. The good news is it is possible to reboot bad sleeping habits and get the good night’s sleep you need. Here are some sleep-disrupting habits to avoid if you would like maximize your sleep quality:
Learn more
5 Ways to Optimize Your Sleep
In many cases, we aren’t sleeping enough and the sleep we get is not very refreshing. Thanks to technology and busy schedules, our minds are often wired to keep going long past bedtime. Even if you use Neurogum like I do to give you an extra boost during the day, it’s just as necessary to get a good night’s rest. If you find yourself waking up exhausted and struggling to get through the day, the following 5 top tips can help you better optimize your sleep…
Learn moreInteresting Relaxation Techniques for Better Sleep
In today’s fast-paced life, many people find it difficult to wind down before bedtime, which can result in difficulty falling asleep and insomnia. Fortunately, there are a number of effective relaxation techniques to help us achieve both physical and mental relaxation at bedtime.
Learn moreWhat is Twitch.tv?
Twitch.tv was purchased by Amazon for $970,000,000 in 2014. That's nearly a billion dollars, if you aren't into interpreting zeroes. Odds are if you aren't a gamer, you don't really know why. If you find yourself in that camp, stick around. I'm going to give you several reasons why you should be interested in what Twitch is, even if you never play video games and you never intend to.
Learn more