Want a Clearer Mind This Fall? Enjoy These Fun Halloween Traditions to Sharpen Your Focus
Feel clear-headed this fall by engaging in these brain-boosting Halloween activities—science says so!
Halloween fun can do more than just lift your spirits—it can sharpen your mind and improve your focus, too! Whether you’re carving pumpkins, whipping up caramel apples or setting up a spooky front-yard display, University of Texas researchers say that the joy of these festive fall activities fuels the brain’s release of dopamine. This “feel-good” hormone not only boosts your mood but also improves your mental clarity and focus, helping you feel sharp all day long. Ready to ditch brain fog? Try these fun fall activities!
Sharpen focus with pumpkin carving
Take some time to celebrate and enjoy this fun season (by carving a pumpkin, making caramel apples or creating a ghoulish display to entertain trick-or-treaters), and you’ll feel more clearheaded all day long, University of Texas investigators report. They say that simply anticipating and enjoying these happy—and often nostalgic!—seasonal activities fuels the release of the brain-energizing, focus-sharpening hormone dopamine.
Try fall-inspired doodling
Take a minute to draw a pretty flower or funny stick figure or to just doodle on scrap paper. This simple trick chases away brain fog for an hour or more. Dutch investigators explain that working with pencils (which have unlimited creative potential, plus are one of the easiest art tools to use) dials down the release of grogginess-fueling delta brain waves.
Fight insomnia with a fruit pie
Apples, plums and pumpkins are in season now. And baking one of these delicious gems into a pie or cobbler could be the key to a great night’s sleep! University of Michigan scientists say adding a heaping cup of fruit (raw or cooked) to your daily diet cuts your risk of insomnia in half. The carotenoids that give these fruits their cheery hues boost production of sleep-deepening melatonin.
Dodge indigestion with a spooky stroll
If a hectic day, heavy meal or one-too-many fun-size candy bars upset your stomach, heading out for a relaxing stroll could erase your symptoms in just 20 minutes. And it will reduce your risk of future GI flare-ups by as much as 60 percent if you do it daily, Italian researchers say. That’s because moving your leg and hip muscles activates the enteric nervous system, which speeds stomach emptying, calms spasming intestinal muscles and optimizes your body’s digestive enzyme release.
Embrace cozy living and deep breathing
Stretch out in your favorite comfy chair and take deep, relaxed belly breaths. Doing so can ease your digestive troubles in 10 minutes. Scientists reporting in the journal Frontiers in Neuroscience say slow, deep breathing calms overactive pain nerves and encourages intestinal muscles to contract properly.
Erase stress with scary movies
You would think watching horror flicks would make you feel more anxious, but University of Chicago scientists say you’ll feel calmer after watching a scary flick. Edge-of-your-seat movies produce the same “runner’s high” that exercise does. Plus, it trains the anxiety center of your brain to stay calm when you’re not in true danger.
Get crafty
Love decorating cakes or knitting scarves? Spending time each day doing something creative cuts your risk of stress and anxiety in half, Indian scientists say. Creative activities energize nerves that keep you calm.
Soothe achiness with the ‘Monster Mash’
Tapping your foot to the beat of your favorite song quashes a pain flare in as little as 2 minutes, suggests a study in the journal PLOS ONE. Just listening to music (even if you’re sitting still) quickly calms overactive pain nerves. And moving to the beat of much-loved tunes boosts the benefits, since it prods your brain to release powerful ache-ending hormones know as endorphins and enkephalins.
Take a porch break
Relax outside and watch your neighbors strolling by, leaves drifting down from trees or busy squirrels burying acorns in your yard, and you’ll feel more limber and ache-free in 30 minutes, a Norwegian research review suggests. This blissful break relaxes muscles, calms pain and quashes production of pain-triggering stress hormones.
Restore stamina by bobbing for apples
Bobbing for apples at a Halloween party or playing cards with a friend can double your stamina for up to 48 hours. And it’ll help you stay energized all season long if you do something social a few times a month, suggests a Penn State University study. Regularly combining friends and fun switches on genes that produce the fatigue-fighting hormone serotonin.
Dress up for the fall
The contentment you feel when you’re happy with your appearance makes your production of fatigue-fighting neurotransmitters soar. Wear something that makes you feel great, and Temple University scientists say you’ll feel energized all day.
This story originally appeared in the print magazine of Woman’s World
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