Going out jogging? You probably stretch and bend and wiggle around and jump up and down before you start running. Warmed up enough? No. Do more. Finish up? Then cool down and start warming up for the demands of the aerobic bicycle.

What about your brain? Do you expect it to start up at 100% creativity, motivation, memory retrieval, and impeccable judgment? Do you think that double mug of coffee is going to get it running at full efficiency? Maybe a little warm up for your brain is a good idea with stretching and wiggling and jumping up and down. Then cooling off and warming up for the next project.

Makes a lot of sense to me. Makes even more sense since I have lived with cognitive impairment and dementia for a while. Of course, it made a lot of sense 25 years ago, although I would not have called it warming up the brain until fairly recently.

Some recommended warm up exercises. See mind map below. Click to expand.

I like to warm up (and cool down) with doodling, daydreaming, and programming guided imagery into my brain. I do all three simultaneously, use lots of color, and relative silence so I can hear my brain tick instead of Mick Jagger’s strut. Seems to help. A few of my doodles from yesterday are shown below. Crummy art or sketching: pretty good way to release some creativity into the stream of consciousness. There are lots of other things that might work for you. I’d try some and see if any help.

And if you do find something that seems to work, please share it in the comments to this post.