Ep. 064 – Brain Training for Peak Performance

Posted on November 2, 2015 by Jason Pyles

Good morning and welcome to Episode 064 of the Train Your Brain Podcast with Dr. Michael Trayford. It’s Monday again, so this is our weekly, 30-minute episode. (Tuesday through Sunday we produce five-minute episodes with daily tips.) Every episode of the Train Your Brain Podcast provides advice for helping you to improve the function of your brain.

In Episode 064, Dr. Trayford explains some of the most effective techniques that he uses to train peak performers. Whether an athlete, business person, or musician, these individuals push themselves to execute every motion with exact precision. Biofeedback, balance-testing and eye-testing are just the beginning. If you want to up your game, in any arena, Dr. Trayford knows how to train your brain to help you achieve peak performance! Continue reading →

Ep. 063 – Know Your Numbers: Sedimentation Rate (ESR)

Posted on November 1, 2015 by Jason Pyles

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Happy November and welcome to Episode 63 of the Train Your Brain Podcast with Dr. Michael Trayford. Every Monday we produce a 30-minute episode. Tuesday through Sunday we produce episodes with five-minute tips. Every episode of the Train Your Brain Podcast features a tip, so you can receive pointers 365 days a year that will help enhance the performance of your brain!

Today Dr. Trayford shares a brain training tip for another medical test that you can reference to monitor your health. If you can have your sedimentation rate numbers tested you can detect inflammation and track damages from injury. Ask your doctor if this test might be helpful for you.

Sedimentation rate is a pretty basic test. It’s one of the biomarkers, hospitals monitor in people that have suffered a traumatic injury. Some other common terms include: erythrocyte sedimentation rate, or Sed-rate.
It’s sort of like when you put a bunch of dirt in a vial and shake it up, then let things slowly settle down to the bottom. This is similar to how sedimentation rate is measured, except instead of particles of dirt it looks at how fast red blood cells sink to the bottom of a vial as part of a blood test. It’s one of the markers for inflammation.

It’s an inexpensive test for many different conditions, inflammation, infection autoimmune diseases and things like that. Almost all of these conditions impact brain function.

The range is measured between zero to twenty. Ideally, you want to it measure zero or as close to zero as possible. When we’re seeing that in combination with C-reactive protein we know that something is going on. It’s another canary in the coalmine type of testing.
Most insurance companies will cover a test like this as common diagnostic testing.

If you have any concerns regarding the information and applications discussed in this podcast, please consult your physician and a doctor who is experienced in functional neurology. Michael Trayford DC, DACNB is available for consultation by calling (828) 708-5274. Thanks for listening. Continue reading →

Ep. 062 – Sleep: Nasal Strips

Posted on October 31, 2015 by Jason Pyles

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Happy Halloween and welcome to Episode 62 of the Train Your Brain Podcast with Dr. Michael Trayford. Every Monday we produce a 30-minute episode. Tuesday through Sunday we produce episodes with five-minute tips. Every episode of the Train Your Brain Podcast features a tip, so you can receive pointers 365 days a year that will help enhance the performance of your brain!

For Halloween today Dr. Trayford talks about something very scary: not being able to breathe well at night. Have you ever been jolted awake from disrupted breathing? It is an alarming feeling. It might be due to your pillow’s height, sleeping position, your weight or another condition. Of course the brain needs oxygen at night to perform its many wiring and learning functions, so you want to make sure to get to the bottom of this issue. Dr. Trayford recommends trying nasal strips. They truly help with breathing at night. If the problem persists, consider a sleep study.

This tip relates to sleep and the use of nasal strips.
Jason: I’ve seen those and I can’t believe that they really work!
They do! I’ve seen under certain circumstances. I need to use them in a hotel room or if I’m sleeping in a new location. When I’m sleeping in a hotel room I generally have restless sleep. Also if the pillow are too high, which is common in a lot of hotel rooms, my windpipe gets a little bit bent and my trachea closes down on the back of my throat.

Keeping the nose open a little bit help. A lot of people have trouble breathing when they’re sleeping. In most cases if it’s not related to bladder or an issue with a restless mind, then it’s usually some sort of breathing issue.

I know myself if I lie on my back I have a difficult time when breathing through my nose. Oxygen flow, especially in the brain is very important when you’re sleeping. As we’ve talked about in the past.

There’s a lot of rewiring, remodeling in the pathways and taking out garbage in the brain. This all requires energy. The brain’s two primary forms of energy are oxygen and sugar. So if you’re experiencing a decrease in oxygen, it’s significant and the brain will suffer as a result.

In some instances, where people are dealing with severe sleep apnea, they might need air pressure regulating CPAP machines. But in basic instances where someone is being woken up by that quick little jolt of your breathing stopping. It might be remedied by using nasal strips.

In a situation like this you might need to have a sleep study done to determine the extent of the issue. However, that shouldn’t be the first step. Using nasal strips is worth trying to help you find better quality of sleep.

Bottom line, at all costs, you want to be able to achieve quality sleep on your own. If you start using alternative devices they can become a crutch that you become dependent on. If you or your spouse is having trouble sleeping, I suggest giving them a try as an effective first step in trying to remedy sleep problems related to breathing issues.

This is especially true if your spouse tells you that you’re choking when you’re sleeping, or stopping breathing. You should discuss this will your physician to explore your options.

Ep. 061 – Limit Carbohydrate Intake

Posted on October 30, 2015 by Jason Pyles

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Good morning and welcome to Episode 061 of the Train Your Brain Podcast with Dr. Michael Trayford. Every Monday we produce a 30-minute episode. Tuesday through Sunday we produce episodes with five-minute tips. Every episode of the Train Your Brain Podcast features a tip, so you can receive pointers 365 days a year that will help enhance the performance of your brain!

Today Dr. Trayford shares brain training tip 61! There is so much diet and nutrition information out there these days! As you are sorting through all the claims, there is one safe and effective diet goal that you can keep in mind. It is truly healthy for you to limit carb intake. This isn’t radical and it isn’t new, but don’t get caught up in all the hype. Watch the carbohydrates and give your brain and body as much natural fuel as possible!

Carbohydrates are all over people’s radar these days. Some people are eating way too much and some people are eating way too little. There is no one size fits all. Not everyone is a perfect fit for the Atkins, Paleo or Mediterranean diet or whichever nutrition plan the case might be.
In my mind it’s not about eating on any one diet plan as it is eating smarter rather than following any strict script. Just look at the first three letters of the word diet.

What we want to look at in this tip is basically just setting up some common sense approach to how your diet can help you build a better brain. One of the things to address is to limit your carbohydrates.
By far more people fall into the camp where they are eating too many carbohydrates.

In the 1980’s there was a diet crazy where people tried to stay away from fats and instead focused on eating more carbohydrates.

What we really want to do is focus on eating quality carbohydrate foods that are high in soluble and dietary fiber and complex carbohydrates.
The way I describe it, if it is a food with a jacket that you can eat, then that is good. If you can’t eat the jacket on that food, like a banana, it means that the fruit inside usually has a lot of simple carbohydrates.

If you think about things like an apple where you can eat the jacket. It’s a sign of a fruit that has more fiber and complex carbohydrates. So when you eat a banana or a pineapple, your blood sugar spikes quite quickly.
In general our plates are overloaded with simple, empty calorie carbohydrates. Pretzels, ice cream and other simple snacks are loaded with simple carbs.

It’s not about completely eliminating a type of food, but limiting it and being smart about what you’re eating and when.

Ep. 060 – Gratitude Journal

Posted on October 29, 2015 by Jason Pyles

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Good morning and welcome to Episode 060 of the Train Your Brain Podcast with Dr. Michael Trayford. Every Monday we produce a 30-minute episode. Tuesday through Sunday we produce episodes with five-minute tips. Every episode of the Train Your Brain Podcast features a tip, so you can receive pointers 365 days a year that will help enhance the performance of your brain!

Today Dr. Trayford shares brain training tip 60! There is power in pondering and considering things you are grateful for. You can actually strengthen your brain and enrich your life at the same time: Taking the time to write down things that you are grateful for will exercise your brain and make you an all-around healthier (and happier) person!

The concept of keeping a gratitude journal has really started to be researched extensively. Forbes published an article in November of 2014 that explored the value of keeping a gratitude journal.

Something happens neurologically when we reflect on our choices, relationships and special events in our lives. Actively reflecting starts to hardwire neurological changes in the brain. If you’re constantly focusing on emotions that make you fearful, angry and resentful, they eventually get hardwired into the brain.

Research has found that keeping a gratitude journal can help pull you out of negative patterns, and start you on a course that leads to positive thoughts and actions. Gratitude journals have shown to be even more effective, than simply focusing on having positive thoughts in your day.
Keeping one has many different benefits.

One of the biggest improvements comes with the ability to open up new relationships, or to communicate better in your current relationships. Reflecting and being grateful for the people that help you in life, expands your empathy, and empathy is one of the cornerstones of healthy relationships.

It also improves physical health. We understand pain levels come down when people are grateful. Research has found that people that are stuck in negative emotions, have higher pain scales, than people who practice gratitude and positive thinking on a daily basis. This was published in a journal of 2012 journal of personality and individual differences.

Psychological health is the obvious one. Study after study has found that gratitude and mental well being go hand in hand. Next to exercise it is one of the best treatments for depression.

It also reduces aggression and enhances empathy. We can feel more for others when we start to really reflect on our experiences with them. Most of our gratitude is based on our experiences with others, so we don’t feel angry towards them.

Sleep, has been shown to be very important for brain health. There are studies that have been published, one in the journal of applied psychology, found that people who wrote in a gratitude journal for 15 minutes at night before going to bed experienced better sleep and longer
Self-esteem is also impacted. When you sit down and reflect on what you’ve accomplished and what you’re grateful for, these are researched backed as well.

We start to reduce our social comparisons when we show gratitude. We’re not judging people as much when we’re doing that. With the advent of the Internet and people trying to show each other up. Especially for younger girls as they’re growing up and trying to compete in the world of being a teenager these days. With my 11-year-old daughter, this is something we are always trying to teach her.

Mental strength. PTSD and other conditions are impacted dramatically. There are studies done with veterans that have seen significant benefits from gratitude journaling.

It costs little more than a cheap composition notebook or simply maintaining a special file on your computer’s hard drive.

The journal doesn’t have to be anything fancy. It can just be a simple composition notebook. If you’d like you can even break it down into different categories: personal life, business.
You really just want to look at the different aspects of your life and reflect on them. The results will be amazing.

Ep. 059 – Go a Little Further Each Day

Posted on October 28, 2015 by Jason Pyles

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Good morning and welcome to Episode 059 of the Train Your Brain Podcast with Dr. Michael Trayford. Every Monday we produce a 30-minute episode. Tuesday through Sunday we produce episodes with five-minute tips. Every episode of the Train Your Brain Podcast features a tip, so you can receive pointers 365 days a year that will help enhance the performance of your brain!

Today Dr. Trayford shares brain training tip 59! He admonishes us to go a little further each day. If you have an exercise routine already in place, you might find yourself plateauing after a while. At that point, cautiously consider pushing yourself just a little bit. Adding another block to your run or another five minutes to your routine will add up!

This tip incorporates a philosophy that can fit into many aspects of your life, in this case it pays particularly large benefits for your daily exercise routine. Human beings are capable of doing great things, but you can’t reach great heights without pushing your own limits.

If your daily exercise routine involves taking a vigorous walk through your neighborhood and you always turn around at the same spot, you might get stuck in a rut. The next time you want to go a little bit further. Just keep in mind that you don’t want to push through serious pain. The goal should be to go a little bit further each day, not to go to extremes each and every day.

If I just push on for extra tenth of a mile, or you put in that one more set, or five more minutes at practice, it will all add up over time. Pushing your limits, a little bit each day is money in the bank. It’s like compound interest. The results will serve you in the long run. This goes beyond the little things.

You’ll eventually start to notice significant improvements. In time you might end up doing things you never thought you could do before. I know people who have used this principle that are running marathons and they never intended to run in a marathon when they started.

This mentality also keeps you from getting caught up in a limiting mindset. Pushing yourself a little further in your exercises and other aspects of your life, fosters a sense that of unlimited potential.
By going a little further each day, your brain and body will thank you for it.

Ep. 058 – Breathing – 1:4:2 Ratio

Posted on October 27, 2015 by Jason Pyles

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Good morning and welcome to Episode 058 of the Train Your Brain Podcast with Dr. Michael Trayford. Every Monday we produce a 30-minute episode. Tuesday through Sunday we produce episodes with five-minute tips. Every episode of the Train Your Brain Podcast features a tip, so you can receive pointers 365 days a year that will help enhance the performance of your brain!

Today Dr. Trayford shares brain training tip 58! There is just so much potential for one to be able to care for one’s brain. Today’s tip will give your brain more oxygen than it has had in a while! Dr. Trayford and Jason model this breathing technique so you can try it right along with them. Follow the 1:4:2 ratio for your breathing by inhaling, holding and exhaling. Dr. Trayford recommends doing this 10 times in a row; try to fit three sessions into your day. You’ll feel more calm immediately!

In this tip we touch on a previous breathing technique (Cross Reference in Final). This tip looks at a breathing exercise that uses a 1:4:2 ratio. This relates to the amount of time it takes you to breathe in to the amount of time you hold it and the amount of time you breathe out. So 1:4:2. If it takes you four seconds to breathe in, you would hold it for sixteen seconds and then breathe out for eight.

The average person breathes in from anywhere from four to five seconds and with these exercise you want to breath in through the nose and out through the mouth. This allows you to purse your lips to slow down the rate you exhale. Most people breathe out way too fast.

The most important part of this is controlling the rate that you exhale, but with this one you’re also adding the element of holding it a little bit. When you think about it. It’s a little bit like taking a wet towel or a sponge and ringing it out. Trying to get every last bit of water out.
This exercise is designed to get as much oxygen out of the air you breathe.

Breathe in through the nose. Hold it for 20. Then we breathe out for eight. And you want to breathe out until everything is out. You might even feel a little bit light headed.

Jason” I’m not light headed, but I am a little vulnerable at the moment.
For some people when they start doing this, they do feel a little light-headed at first simply because the brain isn’t used to getting that much oxygen.

It can be somewhat disorienting if you’re not breathing very well. We’ve actually had metabolically challenged individuals pass out from doing this.

Jason: So it’s the amount of oxygen you get that makes you feel light headed.

We can actually test this oxygen levels and we watch people’s oxygen levels go up. You see some people that are used to running at 94 or 95% and all of a sudden they’re holding at 100%. The brain is used getting rather cruddy fuel. So it takes a little bit for your brain to get used to it.

If you have challenges with breathing you might want to consult your physician.

You want to do a set of 10 of these exercises three to four times per day. And your brain can operate on a higher level. Make sure you’re sitting down, don’t be driving and try to be in an area with clean air. You don’t want to do it while you’re driving and sitting behind a truck putting out diesel exhaust.

Ep. 057 – The Eyes Are the Window to the … Brain

Posted on October 26, 2015 by Jason Pyles

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Good morning and welcome to Episode 057 of the Train Your Brain Podcast with Dr. Michael Trayford. It’s Monday again, so this is our weekly, 30-minute episode. (Tuesday through Sunday we produce five-minute episodes with daily tips.) Every episode of the Train Your Brain Podcast provides advice for helping you to improve the function of your brain.

In Episode 057, Dr. Trayford teaches us all about how practicing certain eye exercises can strengthen our eyes and improve our vision! He describes which exercises to do and what results you can expect. What a great gift to give yourself: better sight! Continue reading →

Ep. 056 – Make a “Not to Do” List

Posted on October 25, 2015 by Jason Pyles

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Good morning and welcome to Episode 056 of the Train Your Brain Podcast with Dr. Michael Trayford. Every Monday we produce a 30-minute episode. Tuesday through Sunday we produce episodes with five-minute tips. Every episode of the Train Your Brain Podcast features a tip, so you can receive pointers 365 days a year that will help enhance the performance of your brain!

Today Dr. Trayford shares brain training tip number 56! All you list-makers out there will love this tip! You might consider shaking things up a bit and instead of making a list of things that you know you should do, make a list of things that you know you shouldn’t do. This exercise gives your brain a new angle from which to strategize your day. Your “Not to Do List” might contain items like: Don’t interrupt others when they are talking. Don’t eat after 7pm, or don’t use cell phone while driving. Instead of constantly measuring yourself by your “to do list,” you will be able to accomplish a lot of self-improvement by focusing on what not to do. Try it today!

Ep. 055 – Know Your Numbers: C-Reactive Protein (CRP)

Posted on October 24, 2015 by Jason Pyles

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Good morning and welcome to Episode 055 of the Train Your Brain Podcast with Dr. Michael Trayford. Every Monday we produce a 30-minute episode. Tuesday through Sunday we produce episodes with five-minute tips. Every episode of the Train Your Brain Podcast features a tip, so you can receive pointers 365 days a year that will help enhance the performance of your brain!

Today Dr. Trayford shares brain training tip number 55! If you haven’t ever wondered about inflammation in the body, then Dr. Trayford has a brain training tip that you should really consider. Inflammation in the body is a huge factor in our health and now there is a way to measure it with a simple blood test. Talk to your doctor about testing your C-Reactive Protein so that you can maintain the best health possible for your brain and body. Join us!

How to train your brain 365 days a year for a sharper mind.

Tag Archives: concussion

Ep. 064 – Brain Training for Peak Performance

Ep. 063 – Know Your Numbers: Sedimentation Rate (ESR)

Ep. 062 – Sleep: Nasal Strips

Ep. 061 – Limit Carbohydrate Intake

Ep. 060 – Gratitude Journal

Ep. 059 – Go a Little Further Each Day

Ep. 058 – Breathing – 1:4:2 Ratio

Ep. 057 – The Eyes Are the Window to the … Brain

Ep. 056 – Make a “Not to Do” List

Ep. 055 – Know Your Numbers: C-Reactive Protein (CRP)