⚽ It's World Cup time. And the viewership is spectacular across the globe. We can marvel at the sportsmanship, the fandom, the joy, and the skills of these athletes. We can also, truly, marvel at the brains of these professional athletes.

Research has shown that professional players display shorter reaction times and lower central energy consumption across cognitive-motor tasks. In other words, they accomplish more with less brain effort.

In young football players (that's soccer players in the US), combining movement with cognitive demands, known as a dual-task, has emerged as a promising approach to enhance their decision making and game intelligence.

Engaging your mind and moving your body together is one of the most powerful brain-training strategies we humans can do.

Getting riled up during the match and feel like you need to calm down? Try this.
Feel your skin starting to crawl during a meeting? Try this.
Heard the same sentence for the third time in the last five minutes? 100% Do This.

Box breathing takes less than 30 seconds, you can do it anywhere at anytime, and no one will know you are doing it. And it will calm your nervous system. It is also known as square breathing as there are 4 clear steps.

Personally, I start with the recommended 4 breaths. After some trial and error, I will extend it to 6 breaths for each of the steps or 8 when I'm dealing with insomnia and trying to get back to sleep.

👉 Want to learn more and why it works? Check out the Cleveland Clinic's Box Breathing Guide.

If you and your loved ones are watching the games together, or just looking for something to pass the time, here's an activity for you. No pen or paper required. You can do this with 2 people or 10 people. It doesn't matter.

Pick an overarching theme. Let's say it's the World Cup.
Pay attention to the seating order. Go through the alphabet—A to Z—with each person naming one thing/person/place associated with the letter. Follow the seating order and keep repeating until you have completed the alphabet: Here is an example:

4 people:
Person 1: Argentina
Person 2: Ball
Person 3: Center
Person 4: Defense
Person 1: England …..
…. Z

If you want to make this more difficult, start with the Letter Z and end with the letter A.

Disclosure: We only recommend products we would use ourselves or suggest to our own families. These two links below are not affiliate links.

Bop-It!®️ is an electronic game (no screen, but batteries required) that is as close as you will get to an armchair football drill that helps to train dual-task reactions. The original game barks a random sequence of commands (bop it, twist it, pull it, spin it) that require you to switch movement type on the fly, with increasing speed. This directly trains switching attention between motor tasks, which is similar to the cognitive-motor flexibility that football uses in variable practice drills. A newer version includes includes 10 new moves, including whip it, drink it, selfie it, and hammer it.

Engage your mind + Move your body = Dual-task
You have to pay sustained attention to the commands (and at increasing speed) AND make a move (bop, twist, pull, or spin).

Its maker Hasbro markets this as a game and recommended to kids and adults from ages 8 and above. (My nephew introduced me to this game when he was 5 years old. There is also a two-player version when the "pass” command is introduced.)

I, personally, would not recommend BopIt!®️ for my own mother, or people who have difficulties with their hands (e.g., arthritis), loud noises, or who will be agitated by increasingly fast commands. This would be torture for her. As always, seek advice from a professional. (See our Disclaimer).

Get a Balloon. Not the helium type, just a good ol’ fashioned, terrible tasting balloon. Actually, get yourself a pack, because of course they pop and deflate by themselves.

Balloon tossing is a common group activity in long-term care facilities and memory care. And we're going to spice it up a bit.

This is in honor of one of my best friends who would have been 105 tomorrow. The 60+ year age gap was never an issue. A summer solstice baby, she was a ray of sunshine. On her 90th birthday, her wish was to try a hip-hop class. She's never done one, so we went. She certainly didn't hide at the back. She did it her way. Confidently. Do it your way! And help your loved one do it their way.

What are you noticing about your loved one's memory and cognition? What type of activities would you like to see? Hit reply and tell us.

Your answer helps shape what we write next.

If you're interested in learning more about what you can do to train your brain, as well as do activities together with your loved one, we currently offer 1-on-1 holistic brain training and coaching sessions, including BRAINKINETIK®️ exercises for movement and the mind. A free 20-minute discovery call is a good first step to discuss your goals and the benefits of guided, regular brain training.

No commitment. No pressure. Just a conversation about where you are and what kind of support would actually help.

p.s. Most families only discover support like this because someone they trust points them to it. If someone comes to mind, feel free to pass this along.

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