From My Boomer Brain to Your Boomer Brain

In 2006 I discovered how we can maintain an aging brain.  To understand how to reverse aging changes, It was necessary to understand how our brain ages and what brain functions were affected.  I was in my fifties when I started this career path. 

Throughout the years my perspective on the aging brain was evolving.  In my fifties my knowledge of what was going on with my brain was basic.  It was still an academic approach to changing my brain, more so than experience.  My enthusiasm to learn more drove me to seek out teachers and mentors.  Brain health was focused on preventing dementia.  The benefits were amazing, but I didn’t know how to communicate that because I was focused on preventing dementia, not recovering brain aging losses. 

In my sixties I had brain surgery, and this was when I had to use all my knowledge to change my brain.  Your brain needs some serious rehab after surgery.  After using all my knowledge to recover my high-functioning brain you would have thought I would focus on recovering a healthy brain.  But I thought everyone was more fearful of dementia and wanted to know how to prevent it. With my knowledge of brain-health I wasn’t fearful of getting Alzheimer’s disease and because of that, I wasn’t too concerned about the brain-aging losses I was starting to experience.  I wasn’t focused on the right perspective! 

Now I am in my seventies! There is no denying the impact that aging changes have had on my brain!  Now I understand!  Aging alters your brain and has a significant impact on brain function.  This can be unnerving if you don’t know what is happening. 

My focus is now on the aging brain, the losses we sustain and how that impacts our lives.  Our lives change dramatically as we get older.  Retirement, health challenges, financial success or hardship, kids, grandkids, housing, and experiencing the loss of family, friends, rock and roll icons can change how we perceive our older years.   When our brain is high-functioning, we are high-functioning.

Aging is an individual experience.  How do you make the most of your situation?  My articles are shifting to specific challenges to the older brain.  For example, how do you recover top brain function after anesthesia?  How does the brain process grief?  What is the role of resilience in our older years? Finding purpose and passion after retirement is life fulfilling.  How does our past influence our future?  We have an eclectic background as boomers.  How does that influence our world view?  Our brains are the center of our collective memories. 

Right now, there are 7 million people who have Alzheimer’s.  By 2050, there will be 13 million cases of Alzheimer’s in the U.S.  The huge jump in cases is due to longevity and the size of the boomer group.  The older we get, the higher the risks of developing dementia.  There will be more people who won’t develop dementia until they are in their nineties.  This should not be the legacy of the boomers.

Let’s practice self-care by learning and living the brain-healthy lifestyle.  Let’s learn how to recover from life losses and brain losses.  Resilience is a learned trait. Let’s find passion, purpose, and meaning in our older years.  It is hard to imagine, but our retirement years could be longer than our work years.  Let’s learn to make these the best years of our lives.

The Boomer Brain is about the aging brain and lays out a Plan to implement the brain-healthy lifestyle.  My articles will cover all these specific topics and more. However, I know that it is difficult to read this information and then use it.  Change is complicated and it can be frustrating.  To solve this conundrum, I am opening individual and group coaching sessions.  Information will be forthcoming.  In the meantime, I would appreciate your insights on what you would want to read and learn.  Please email me at patricia@myboomerbrain.com.

You are never too old to change your brain!

Pat

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