Good Habits to Help You Feel Inspired Daily

Remember that your daily routine (日常生活) isn’t set in stone. You can test the structure of your day and improve it based on what works best for you. Here are a few ideas:

Morning affirmations. Affirmations are repeated words or phrases that clearly show positive changes. You can repeat affirmations(肯定) to feel confident. 【小题1】 .

Take breaks. Taking breaks throughout the day improves brain function, learning, and productivity. 【小题2】. Then you can return to your day with a fresh perspective.

【小题3】. Set aside a little time each day to express yourself. A study found that creative activities have short-term benefits, like boosting your mood and reducing stress. 【小题4】. Look for a creative hobby, like journaling, creative writing, dance, drawing, painting, music, anything that makes you shine!

End-of-day ritual. Just as morning ritual sets the tone for the day ahead, an evening routine prepares your body for a restful night’s sleep. Enjoy a cup of tea a couple of hours before you go to sleep. Herbal teas like chamomile (洋甘菊) have calming effects to ease you into a good night’s rest.

Blue light from devices, like your TV or phone, disturbs sleep patterns. 【小题5】. Turn your phone on “do not disturb” at least 30 minutes before bed. Dim the lights or use candles to further reduce the bright lights of daytime.

Sometimes maybe you take vitamins to support brain function, or stock up on foods that promote brain health. But new guidelines (指南) from the American Academy of Neurology suggest there are better things you can do to keep your mind sharp.

According to the AAN, one in four adults between the ages of 80 and 84 have mild cognitive impairment. To address this wide-spread problem, a group of neurologists and Alzheimer’s (阿尔茨海默症的) experts went through existing research to determine the best ways to prevent and treat cognitive decline----and you might be surprised by what they included and what they didn’t.

Surprisingly, the AAN guidelines do not include any medication(药物) or dietary recommendations. The authors stress that no high-quality long-term studies finding that food or drugs can help with cognitive decline. The guidelines also say doctors may consider recommending cognitive training to patients with memory loss, but not to rely on it. So far, the report’s authors say the evidence is too inconclusive to say for sure if brain exercises, like memory and attention training or problem solving for everyday issues associated with memory loss, are beneficial. Still, these morning brain exercises can’t do any harm.

But there was one big discovery from the new guidelines: exercising just twice a week could improve cognitive decline. One study showed adults with mild cognitive impairment who did resistance training twice a week scored better on executive function and associative(联想的) memory tests than a group that worked on balancing, stretching, and relaxing.

What’s more, another study had older adults attend either biweekly health classes or sessions of aerobics, strength training balance exercises, and multitasking training. Six months later, the ones who’d exercised regularly scored better on cognitive health and memory tests, plus had less brain shrinkage.

The AAN now recommends that doctors tell patients with memory loss to exercise twice a week to keep their minds clear. If you want to improve your memory, this is the best time to exercise. It looks like you’ve got just one more reason to clear time in your schedule for a workout---even if it’s only on the weekends.

During the recent COVID-19 breakout, grown-ups themselves are surely having a hard time maintaining social distancing, let alone making sure their “little ones” are also safe.

【小题1】 So, how can parents let children understand what social distancing means and how important it is? Here are some tips that might turn out helpful.

• Read educational children’s books to your little ones. This is a great way to introduce the topic to young ones without making it seem too serious. 【小题2】 You can remind your kids that social distancing is similar to standing back when an ambulance or fire truck goes by.

• 【小题3】 Tell your young children that they're superheroes and that they can “save” the world by keeping their distance from the people around them. To make the game more appealing, offer points and rewards for your child's actions. For instance, you can give your kid a “point” for sneezing into their elbow, or running to avoid someone on the street.

• Encourage younger kids by turning face masks into something fun. You can purchase fun-looking cloth masks that your kids will really enjoy wearing. This can help your children really look forward to staying safe when they go outside. 【小题4】

• Explain social distancing in more details to older kids. Chances are that your grade school children won’t be as interested in games and stories that explain the basics of social distancing. 【小题5】 You can say something like: “COVID-19 is kind of like a cold, and it spreads really easily from person to person. When we stand apart from other people and keep our distance, we lower the risk of getting sick, as well as spreading the virus to anyone else.”