Reprogram your brain with positive stuff instead of endless loop of negativity.

When I was younger and didn't always have the best self image, it seemed like I just couldn't get the negative stuff out of my head. It seemed there was always a loop running that said I wasn't good enough, pretty enough or 'fill in the blanks.' Fortunately, with maturity that has all changed and I now have "good" stuff in my head, some of which are sage words that have been passed down through the  odes and sonnets of long dead poets.

 If we have a hard time making it through the day sometimes it might be wise to remember the words of Samuel Johnson, the 18th Century poet and essayist who, in speaking about the value of literature, said it helped him to 'enjoy and endure' his existence. Often we merely go through the motions to make it through another day. Poetry has the ability to lift our spirits and stay in our memory, replacing some of the negativity with images of beauty and tranquility.

When we learn a poem it helps to fill our head with nourishing thoughts and develops empathy, by demonstrating through the words of others, that we are not the only ones who have felt despair, futility, or humiliation.  Every generation has pondered and lamented the reasons we go to war or in deepest inner pain, pined for unrequited love. When we think that we are all alone in the world, remember that someone else has had the same exact thoughts. After all "no man is an island, entire of itself," as John Donne wrote many long years ago.

Growing your dendrites, it's easier than you think!

Do you harbor a secret desire to wow your friends with your Sushi making skills but just haven't had the nerve to sign up for that class yet? It may be that your dendrites are sending a message to you, saying that they need more stimulation. Doing things that are unfamiliar to us or intellectually challenging can help to develop the connections between neurons and in turn make them more resistant to disease. Whether it is learning to fix your car, do plumbing jobs around the house, or take a watercolor class, these can all go a long way towards improving one's brain health.

Anything that is out of your comfort zone will present a challenge to the brain. If you are a moderate cribbage player find someone who is really good to play against and encourage your brain circuitry to work harder. Learning shouldn't stop when you finish school. Continuing to learn new things ensures that your brain stays healthy and with stronger dendrites the connections will last a long time and you will remember what you learned. There are so many ways to stimulate the brain, not just the old puzzle or word games. Learn to sail, take a creative writing course, or find tap dancing classes. Join a club where interesting people meet to exchange ideas. The options are unlimited and you might just have some fun along the way.

Want to give your brain a boost?

New research has shown that reading the works of poets like Shakespeare and Wordsworth give a boost to the brain. Scientists monitored the brain activity of volunteers as they read the works of T.S. Eliot, Shakespeare, and Wordsworth. Then they "translated" the works of these poets into more modern language and again monitored the volunteer's brain activity as they read the words. Turns out that the more challenging poetry showed more electrical activity in the brain than the "dumbed" down versions.

When volunteers encountered unusual words or difficult sentence structures the brain was more "lit up."This caused a shift of the brain into a higher gear. Philip Davis, an English professor who worked on the study with researchers at Liverpool University had this to say about this work on how the brain is affected by what it reads, "Serious literature acts like a rocket-booster to the brain."

I'm not going to give up my summer romance novels just yet. But I believe that memorizing poetry will have just as much affect at lighting up the brain as reading the bards of old. Is not the line "Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines" a more pleasing way to describe a hot summer day than "man, am I sweating in this heat?" Or how about "And summer's lease hath all too short a date" than "I sure will be sorry to see summer go." Language is a beautiful thing and I am glad the works of our great poets have survived in this day of slang and texting. And as it turns is more beneficial to our brains!

A little more about poetry, after all it is summer!

My favorite season is summer. How can one not wax poetic about balmy nights or floating languidly on a winding river? I like that I do less laundry in the summer because I don't have to pile on all the layers that other seasons demand. Summer seems to me the perfect time to take a poem to heart. The days are longer and it is too hot to hurry about at a frenzied pace.

 By taking a poem to heart one makes a friend of the poem. To quote a few lines from the British poet Simon Armitage, "The poems we learn when we're young stay with us for the rest of our lives. They become embedded in our thinking, and when we bring them to mind, or to our lips, they remind us who we are as people, and the things we believe in. They become personal and invaluable, and what's more they are free gifts- there for the taking. We call it learning by heart, and I think such learning can only make our hearts bigger and stronger."

If you have a young friend why not share a poem and memorize it together. They will receive a gift that will last their lifetime and maybe even start a habit that they will carry forward and share with a future generation.

A summer "poetry" salon?

In the 17th to the early 20th centuries "salons" were a periodic gathering of people, usually of social or intellectual distinction who met together to exchange ideas of a literary, artistic, or political nature. I have often thought that it would be fun to hold a salon in my living room to share poems we have learned by heart and talk about how they have enriched our lives. The more I share my love of memorizing poetry with someone, the more I find that that acquaintance can dig up the lines of a poem they learned as a young person. One friend told me that her dad had her memorize poems with him when she was a child and she can still recall them. It must be a bittersweet memory for her as her father is no longer around, but what a sweet memory to associate with him.

To learn a poem by heart, instead of just as rote memorization, means that you really understand the poem. To quote the American poet, John Hollander, "We speak of memorizing as getting something 'by heart,' which really means 'by head.' But getting a poem or prose passage 'by heart' implies getting it by mind and memory and understanding and delight." I imagine that when my friend remembers the poems she learned as a child, she also remembers her father with understanding and delight.

Lazy, hazy days are here, enjoy them!

Are you rushing through summer and not taking the time to smell the blossoming efflorescence around us? Do you rush from appointment to appointment never taking in the sights and sounds? Taking just a few minutes to sniff the breeze can take you back to a childhood memory. Summer has so many delightful smells that can transport you away from a stressful day. For instance, walking by a river and catching a whiff of the saturated air you are instantly transported to that firefly filled evening you let go of a rope swing for the first time and experienced the exhilaration of plunging into the icy cold sparkling water.

I hear so many people lament the passing of summer. Why are we always so concerned with what has not happened yet? While it is here, do something different and out of your comfort zone. Pack a picnic lunch and on your lunch break, find a quiet spot to eat away from the bustle of your office. Invite a coworker along or enjoy some solitude before you are swallowed back up by the work day. No reason to hurry the season along, summer is for savoring and sniffing.

What to do if captured by pirates?

I know most of us will probably not be taken captive by Somali pirates. But strange things do happen in this world. While tuned into the radio this morning I listened to a woman speak about her trip to a resort on the coast of Kenya and her subsequent capture by pirates. To survive her captivity she used visualization techniques and practiced Pilates. How about if she had had a repertoire of poems to recite aloud? She might have won her captors over with her oral recitations and be set free sooner.

 It is sad that rote memorization is no longer part of the school curriculum. Learning a poem helps a child to develop vocabulary while also improves enunciation and self-image. Performing a poem in front of family or peers help a child to overcome shyness and develop their sense of self. What's not to like about that? I believe it helps to develop empathy when you comprehend another's view point through the recall of a poem. Just reading a poem is not the same as memorizing it. Memorization is a way to go deeper into the poem and to connect to a long history of passing along stories and customs. It links us to our ancestors and enables us to see the world through their eyes.

 It is easier than one thinks to memorize a poem. If you start with a short one and work on memorizing one or two lines at a time, before you know it you will have it down. Picking a poem with a strong rhythmic undertone will make it easier to memorize. The added benefit of learning a poem will be that you might find your overall memory becomes stronger.

There was a sea captain from my home state of Vermont who was taken hostage by Somali pirates a few years back. I wonder how he passed the time? While I won't be sailing the high seas anytime soon, I will be adding to my catalogue of poems just in case.