Practice: Brain Boost

Trent McEntire 

Hi. I'm Trent McIntyre. And in this session, I'm gonna help you get a brain boost. And while our brains are complicated, improving how your brain performs and optimizing how it supports your daily activities is actually very easy. You see, our brains take in information through our senses, decide what to do about it, and then we act accordingly. So we smell, hear, touch, see things, our brains process all that information and we respond without really having to think about it. It happens pretty quickly. And what's really awesome is that your brain prioritizes the information that comes from your eyes as the number one. 

It's the number one information source that your eyes rely on and how you think, how you move, and how you feel in your body. And that means we can use your eyes. We can make it eye exercise to improve how your brain performs, to improve how you move and feel in your body. And so, today, we're using the brain speed ball, which is this guy right here. So we have a through z and 1 through 12 printed on the ball. Now, if you don't have a brain speed ball, that's okay, you could always make your own. I'm going to show you the basics of the game, so you get an idea of where to start. The basics are this, you could sit or you could stand and make a choice that where you feel safe. 

And then in that choice, know that you never wanna take unnecessary risks. This isn't about how hard can this game be. It's really more about how fun can it be and how can you make it a regular practice. So you can really feel the benefits in the before and after as you move through your day and you move through your week and you get better and better at playing the game. Now I'm also showing the game solo, but the idea here is that you play with a partner. Instead of throwing the ball to yourself, you'll be throwing the ball to a partner and having that social interaction, having that fun connection. So, first, tossing the ball and catching it. That's the first thing you're gonna do. 

Just making sure that catching the ball is possible. And maybe it's been a while since you caught the ball, you thrown a ball. Maybe you haven't touched the ball in a long time. Right? Just the basics. Doesn't have to be a specific speed. It can go as fast or slow as you need it to go. So you feel like you're stable. You feel like you have control of the ball. 

Nothing's too crazy. You just start to keep your eyes on the ball now. So you're watching the ball as it goes up and as it comes down each time. Now, if you're playing with a partner, you'd watch the ball go away, you'd watch the ball come towards you. Right? Now, with the letters and numbers in the ball, we can start to look at tracking the ball more specifically. So, if you're playing the game full out, it would look and sound like this. 2, 12, h, 9g11o 8 m 2 7. So, it's that simple. 

Now, I'll share a couple of things to help give you some pointers here. When you're throwing the ball, sometimes the ball might spin and you might find it hard to find a specific letter number, and that's okay. Just when you catch the ball, find whatever letter number is closest and say that one out loud. So it's not that it has to be perfect. You don't have to have this perfect throw and perfect catch every time. In fact, it's even better if you drop the ball once in a while. Right? So, being perfect, you don't win extra points, your brain doesn't get better. In fact, I would argue, it's worse for you if you get focused on making this perfect. 

So if you find yourself making it perfect, getting too serious, now that's the time to kinda like stop, check for a second, and be like, okay. Well, this is a fun game. Let's make sure we keep this fun. Now the other thing with this is that you can always make this even easier. So let me just show you. The ball could barely come out of your hands. It could go that high. And even going that high makes it a very powerful game. 

So, if you feel like tossing it up like that is just too much or you just can't do it and it keeps dropping and you're losing the fun edge, make it a very small, just like that. If you're playing with a partner and maybe they have a hard time catching, you don't even have to throw it. You could even just drop it in their lap. And just having watch the ball drop and track it like that makes it a powerful game as well. So it doesn't have to be thrown. So throwing the ball is an obstacle. Just remove that piece altogether and make it really simple for yourself. Now let's talk about why you're saying the letters and numbers out loud. 

So just as a reminder, when we look at that sense, decide, act, how your brain processes information. We take information through our senses, decide what to do about it, and then we act on it. That cycle is being reinforced by saying this out loud. We're tracking it. We're spotting it. We're saying it out loud. You're reinforcing how your brain already processes information, and we're using your eyes to support and to do that. So, again, full out, it would look and sound like this. 

11, w, h, shall make it easier, 36z v4j b. You might notice that when it got really close to my face and that's okay. My eyes kinda crossed a little bit and that might happen for you too and that's quite fine. Again, it's not about being perfect. We get really stuck in trying to pass or fail something. It's about making this fun impossible for you. And when you look at eye exercise, we wanna vary up where the ball is going. So you notice I'm not just throwing the ball into the same place over and over. 

I kinda vary it. Toss a little over here. Toss a little over there. Right? So make sure that when you're playing the game that it also stays challenging enough that you don't get bored. So, to help you do that, I'm gonna give you just a little bit of an upgrade so you can add a little extra challenge. So if you feel like throwing and catching the ball is really working well for you, then you can add a little bit of a challenge. Right? Okay. So we're gonna do is we're gonna toss the ball, catch it, 12, and then in your hands, spin it and stop it, pee, and say it again. 

So it looks like this, 12, qt7fl 12. 12. Z. 5. G. G. So, now, while this video is certainly longer than 1 to 5 minutes, that 1 to 5 minute range is what you're looking for when you're playing the game. So consider this your tutorial, your instructional video, that when you go and you play with your partner or your friend or your caretaker or your co worker that it stays between 1 5 minutes. 

It's a game that's meant to be played multiple times a day if you want to. It's great when you first get up in the morning to get your brain moving. It's also great at night before you go to bed. And while we are talking about boosting your brain, what often can happen with a really gentle game of brain speed ball is that you actually can settle your system and feel more relaxed and more more integrated and calm. So there's different times you can play, and I would encourage you to experiment with what time of the day works best for you. Now the other thing I would have you do is a little of what I call a before and after test. So I would pick an activity. Now that might be something that's, crossword puzzle, maybe it's walking, maybe it's just having a conversation, maybe you're a singer and you like to sing. 

Do an activity for a few minutes, then play with the brain speed ball, track it, say it out loud to that 1 to 5 minute zone, and then touch base again and see if anything has changed. Does it feel easier? Do you feel like you're thinking clearer? Is it is are things becoming a little less effortful? Because sometimes it's hard to notice what changes are happening, but quite often, it's like, well, that felt easier. And maybe you don't feel something specific, but it feels easier overall. And that's a really good sign that you're boosting your brain performance. So remember, to keep it fun, you're playing 1 to 5 minutes total. The basics of the game are that you're tracking the ball. The next level is you're tracking specific letters or numbers. And I really encourage you to play with a partner to keep it fun and social. 

And the bottom line is that boosting your brain is really easy and it's eye exercise. Don't take it too seriously. Don't get stuck in perfectionism. Make sure you keep it fun. And dropping the ball once in a while is really encouraged. So make this a regular practice. Go try it right now, and come back to this video as many times as you want to help support and build your practice and make this a regular habit. See you next time.