How to Take Care of Yourself to Improve Learning

Original Editor - Michael Rowe

Top Contributors - Ewa Jaraczewska, Jess Bell, Tarina van der Stockt and Kim Jackson  

Introduction

Students who are beginning their college education must adapt to a new environment and engage in newfound responsibilities. They become vulnerable to several stressful factors related to schedules, exams and deadlines, new relationships, and new surroundings. To endure this transition, students may develop unhealthy behaviours that include bad dietary habits, sedentary life style, and sleep deprivation. Research shows that healthy diet and good lifestyle behaviours possitively affect cognitive functioning, where fast food consumption lead to poorer executive functioning and poorer visual memory performance in students. Habits around self-care, including diet, exercise, sleep, and social relationships, can have a significant impact on one's ability to learn effectively.

Social skills are the type of behaviours that are socially acceptable and enable an individual to effectively communicate with others. Social relationships can be defined as a "sum of the social interactions between people in the process of joint activities", and they are influenced by the family, teachers, peers, and individuals themselves. Student's academic performance can therefore be influenced by both family and school contexts.

This article offers a general approach to how diet, exercise, sleep, and social relationships impact students' learning.

Balanced Diet and Learning

Pollan's principles of balanced diet:

• Eat food

"Food is what you buy in the bakery, butcher, and deli sections in supermarkets."-- Michael Rowe

• Not too much

"Portion you dish up should be about the size of a medium-sized bowl."-- Michael Rowe

• Mostly plants

" A diet should be made up mostly of fruit and vegetables."-- Michael Rowe

Diet and Cognitive Function

The Facts about diet:

• The brain needs up to 25% of your daily energy output
• The brain needs a steady supply of glucose from complex carbohydrates for sustained mental clarity and focus
• To nourish and protect neural tissue, we need foods rich in fatty acids, antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals
• Consuming a variety of foods like fruits, vegetables, lean protein, and whole grains can have significant impacts on mental acuity
• To supply adequate energy for the brain we must:
  • eat nutrient-dense foods
  • have regular meals and snacks to maintain blood glucose levels
• To help maintain energy levels and mood stability we should limit the intake of processed foods that are high in sugar and unhealthy fats
• Hydration has positive impact on cognitive abilities, including concentration and memory, so drink plenty of water.

Regular Exercises and Learning

"Taking regular breaks to include some form of exercise, may boost performance."-- Michael Rowe

The Facts about regular exercises:

• Regular physical activity improves blood flow to the brain, contributing to better cognitive function
• Combination of aerobic and strengthening exercise helps to reduce stress, enhance your mood, and enhance sleep quality.
• Exercise may improve neuroplasticity, leading to improved memory and fosters mental resilience
• Regular exercise stimulates the release of hormones that boost focus, memory, and learning capacity.
• Light exercise can counteract the fatigue and mental fog associated with long periods of study
• Exercising helps the brain to transition to the diffuse mode, which is a relaxed state of mind where your brain is better at making connections between different ideas.
  • Running or walking are best to allow your mind to enter the diffuse mode.
  • Brain's diffuse mode allow better problem-solving and a deeper understanding of what you're learning.

Well-Rounded Exercise Regime

A combination of two to three of the following activities, up to about 150 minutes per week or 30 minutes on most days, can be considered a well-rounded exercise regime:

• Aerobic activities
  • Examples: walking, jogging, swimming, or cycling
  • Benefits: raises your heart rate and boosts blood flow and oxygen to the brain
  • Dosage: went to thirty minutes of moderate exercises, three to five times a week
• Yoga
  • Benefits: improves mood, reduces stress, and increases focus
  • Dosage: two to three times a week
• Dancing
  • Benefits: improves coordination, balance, memory, spatial awareness, and the social aspect can provide cognitive benefits.
  • Dosage:one to two dance classes per week
• Jumping jack
  • Benefits:facilitates constant movement of all parts of your body, and can therefore stimulate a significant increase in blood flow to your brain
  • Dosage: one to two minutes breaks as often as needed throughout long study sessions to reboot your energy and concentration
• Tai Chi
  • Benefits: challenges the brain part involved in concentration, problem-solving, and mental flexibility
  • Dosage: ten to twenty minutes, a few times a week
• Strength training
  • Example: weight lifting
  • Benefits: boosts levels of hormones that support memory and learning
  • Dosage: two to three strength training workouts per week
• Stretching exercises
  • Examples: gentle stretching in your neck, shoulders, and back
  • Benefits: increase blood flow and relieve muscle tension that can interfere with focus
  • Dosage: thirty to sixty seconds hold for each stretch
• Heart-pumping activity
  • Examples: running up stairs or skipping
  • Benefits: helps to immediately boost focus and cognitive performance
  • Dosage: five to ten minute sessions of a high-intensity cardio workout, two to three times per week

Sleep and Learning

"Adults need seven to nine hours of sleep per night for optimal cognitive function."-- Michael Rowe

The Facts about sleep habits:

• Deep, restorative sleep is essential for memory consolidation.
• Deep sleep is implicated in our creativity, problem-solving, and decision-making.
• Poor sleep can impair your ability to learn and concentrate the next day.
• Poor sleep has a significant negative impact on your mental health, education, and relationships with others.
• Poor sleep can have a negative impact on learning and performance.
• Good sleeping habits can help you to remember more.

How to Improve Sleep Hygiene

1. Maintain a consistent sleep schedule. Ensures 7-9 hours of sleep per night.
2. Create a restful environment at the time you are trying to fall asleep. Keep your bedroom dark, quiet, and cool.
3. Limit your exposure to bright screens before bedtime to at least an hour before bedtime
4. Avoid large meals, caffeine, and alcohol close to bedtime.
5. Physical activity during the day can help you fall asleep more easily at night.
6. Use meditation, deep breathing, yoga, or reading a book to help you relax before bed.
7. If unable to fall asleep, try reading a book, listening to calming music, or doing some light stretching until you start feeling sleepy again.

Social Relationships and Learning

"Interacting with peers, teachers, and mentors can greatly enhance the learning experience by exposing you to different perspectives."-- Michael Rowe

The Facts about social relationships:

• Protect against disease, cognitive decline.
• Increase the sense of trust we have in our communities.
• Increase resilience in the face of adversity.
• Make us more open to new experiences and ideas
• Provide emotional support and motivation, which are essential for sustained learning
• Improve your learning outcomes, and make learning more enjoyable.
• Enhance mental well-being, which indirectly affects learning capacity.
• Improve your mood, reduce stress, and increase emotional well-being.
• Present opportunities for mentorship.
• Offer additional opportunities to learn and grow through attending talks, workshops, and other events that can provide practical experience and further deepen your understanding of the subject matter.

How to Harness Social Relationships in Learning

1. Form or join study groups
2. Seek out formal and informal mentors
3. Teach someone else what you have learned
4. Participate in online forums, discussion groups, or social media platforms
5. Engage in projects with peers, friends, and family members
6. Participate in virtual interactions and connect with like-minded students and experts from around the world

Practical Solutions for Lifestyle Changing

• Eat balanced diet
  • Prepare a weekly meal plan
  • In your diet include a wide range of complex carbohydrates, omega-3 fatty acids, antioxidants, and lean proteins
  • Learn more about diet by reading Michael Pollan's "Food Rules".
• Engage in regular exercise
  • Schedule regular exercise times into your daily calendar
  • Start with manageable goals like a 30-minute walk each day
  • Gradually increase the intensity or duration of the exercises as your fitness improves
  • Try out different forms of exercise and experiment with a range of options
• Pay attention to your sleep hygiene
  • Establish a consistent sleep schedule
  • Create a bedtime routine to help your body and mind wind down
• Nurture social connections
  • Form or join a study group related to your programme of study
  • Schedule regular meetings to increase motivation and information retention
  • Include regular social activities that aren't directly related to study.

Conclusions

1. Taking care of yourself in the areas of sleep, nutrition, exercise, and relationships will support and enhance your learning.
2. Care for your mind and your body if you want to reach your full potential.
3. Integrate self-care strategies into your routine.
4. Be patient with yourself and celebrate your progress along the way.
5. Do not hesitate to seek help when needed.

Resources

• Working out boosts brain health
• HOW TO SLEEP
• How physical exercise makes your brain work better