⭑ Our brains respond to challenges, like our muscles do - see item #1.
⭑ The brain is capable of refreshing itself - if you give it a chance - item #2.
⭑ A physical challenge then study improves study! Here's why - item #3.

All strength to Ukraine 🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦

Hello,

I trust you are well and active.
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A little note about Sanpo "slow walking" from last week's newsletter. The "slow" means 10 steps a minute, or less. This hardly feels like moving but this is when you get the biggest "happiness" boost. Nevertheless I have taken to using the 2-4-2 breath-in, hold, breath-out when walking normally and I find it relaxes me.

New research, the latest neuroscience, is good news for us "of a certain age".
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Cognitive and motor decline is not inevitable. OK that may be overstating it, but we can say for sure that the rate of decline can be significantly decreased. Not only that, but a certain framework has been found to work well in improving our healthspan.
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By the way "motor decline" in simple terms means how our movement gets slower, less coordinated, and less efficient as we get older.

"Motor decline" in simple terms means your movement gets slower, less coordinated, and less efficient as you get older. It affects your ability to perform everyday actions that require physical skill.

In order to combat motor decline it helps to understand a little more about how it works, or does not work.

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01 Sweat Your Brain to Slow Motor Decline

Our brain and nervous system have a minutely detailed map of our entire body, telling every muscle exactly how to contract and how hard to contract to achieve a movement. This is called the motor map.

Motor map decline is when the map becomes less precise, routes become uncertain and the details are updated more slowly.

⇒ You experience this when you drift a little while walking along the sidewalk.

Drift happens because the signals to your brain from your toes, feet, ankles muscles, knees, hips, core, shoulders, neck - to the tip of your head - are no longer getting though clearly. You brain is working on an increasingly out of date motor map.
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The result: Your brain's prediction of your forward movement is incorrect. It sends your foot to where **it expects** you are walking however the foot lands off track, off the line of your real direction, and you then drift.

What this means for you ... this decline is not inevitable. Motor decline is largely due to the brain's motor map becoming static because it isn't being challenged.

Challenge is the keyword. In other words, our brains best develop and best recover their performance (neuroplasticity, see the next item), when they are challenged.
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To correct your walking drift do this regularly as you walk, where it is safe:
1. Line up a way to measure your "straightness" e.g. lines along a sidewalk.
2. As you walk rotate your head slowly as far right as possible, hold 2 - 3 seconds, and then rotate all the way as far left as possible for another 2 - 3 seconds, and then back to the front.
3. Take note, based on your markers, how straight you walked during this exercise.
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Do this regularly and you will notice your drift fade away, because this exercise challenges your brain to keep your motor map accurate and up to date in order to avoid a catastrophe e.g. walking into a shopfront or off the sidewalk.

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02 Help Your Brain Refresh Itself - Here's How

Scientists have confirmed the role of errors and frustration as essential signals for neuroplasticity. Neuroplasticity is the mechanism that allows your brain to re-wire itself i.e. to form new connections and strengthen existing ones.

Here's the catch - without challenges, just as with physical exercise, our brain's capacity for neuroplasticity declines.

We can actively reverse or slow this decline by giving our brain the signal of error and challenge, particularly through complex movements and balance work.

Here's what you need to know: your brain needs a much stronger, more intentional signal than when you were young to maintain its neuroplasticity.

What this means for you ... Consider these two scenarios:

• Scenario 1: You are doing a common functional exercise e.g. push-ups on your toes, squats, sit-ups, deadlifts, lunges, burpees.
• Scenario 2: You are doing something - anything - sitting on a gym machine.

Which scenario requires our brain to connect to the greatest number of signals, muscles, extremities and to solve the most complex coordination problems to keep us stable and able to perform the exercise?

⇒ You now have the context to choose between developing your brain's ability to keep you alert and active (Scenario 1) or to let it decline (Scenario 2).

Full-body coordination is what engages your motor map and drives your brain to renew the neuromuscular pathways . By forcing your brain to coordinate the entire system, you are renewing your nervous system through deliberate, specific actions.

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03 Physical Challenges Improve Your Mental Performance

Researchers have discovered that a few minutes of challenging your balance immediately before a mental task actually floods your brain with learning chemicals, making the task easier.

Amazingly, when you challenge your balance (like standing on one leg), the inner ear signals a slight emergency. Your brain instantly floods itself with three key learning chemicals (Dopamine, Acetylcholine, and Norepinephrine). This creates a non-specific boost that makes you sharper and more focused for any mental task you do immediately afterward.

What this means for you ... to maximise your brain’s focus and learning capacity before any mental task, try these three simple balance challenges. Each one creates the learning chemicals flood.

1. The Single-Leg Stance (The Classic Amplifier)

• How it Works: Forces your body to constantly correct small falls, activating the vestibular (inner ear) system and core stability.
• The Action: Stand on one leg. Start with eyes open and hold for 30 seconds.
• The Upgrade: If you are stable, try closing your eyes for 5 to 10 seconds. Closing your eyes removes vision, forcing your brain to rely entirely on the vestibular system to balance—a huge plasticity trigger!

2. The Tandem Walk (The Focus Stealer)

• How it Works: Challenges your linear balance and forces intense focus on motor precision, which drives Acetylcholine release.
• The Action: Walk a straight line by placing the heel of your front foot directly against the toes of your back foot (like walking a tightrope).
• The Upgrade: Perform 5 to 10 steps forward, and then try walking backward the same way (this significantly increases the vestibular challenge).
• Safety Tip: Perform this along a wall or counter, keeping one hand hovering close for immediate support.

3. Head Turns While Standing (The Inner-Ear Jolt)

• How it Works: Creates sensory conflict by moving your head while your feet are stable, directly stimulating the fluid in your inner ear (the vestibular organ).
• The Action: Stand with your feet hip-width apart. Fix your eyes on a target straight ahead, and slowly turn your head from side to side (10 times). Then, turn your head up and down (10 times).
• The Benefit: This is a low-impact way to generate a strong error signal and release the learning chemicals without requiring deep muscle effort.

⇒ Remember: Do these immediately before you start the main mental task (e.g., studying, writing, or complex problem-solving).

Thanks for reading!

>> My Latest Blog Post: Energise Your Golden Years: Boosting Your Desire to Exercise with Gut-Healthy Foods

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