Exercise for the Brain

Hello Beautiful People,

So much is going on and every day something new happens and I want to drop everything and blog.  Alas, I need an assistant to get everything done. I'm training for a half marathon and I'm studying for recertification. My extra time is limited.  I'm really going to try to knock out more posts. I promise. I still owe you my birthday winery trip. I owe you my Memorial Day weekend trip to DC. I want to talk about what I'm studying. I want to talk about my training. I want to talk about my highs and lows. I want to talk about my eating. I want to talk about a lot.

Tonight I need to talk about something a little serious though. If I were to ask you why regular exercise is important, what would you say? To lose weight? For your heart health? Because the doctor told you it is? To sleep better? To have more energy? To relieve stress?

Did you think about how important it is for your brain? Regular exercise brings oxygen to the brain. Oxygen keeps the brain functioning. This is so important. 

One of my clients, D,  has dementia. It has been a joy to work with D. It has also been a challenge. D mirrors me. I have tried to keep our sessions pretty routine. I wanted to make them "memory friendly". It's hard not to change it up more often and to be honest, I probably could. So many times we will be doing something that we have done a hundred times and D will ask "Have we done this before?" It's heartbreaking, but I have truly enjoyed our sessions.

For various reasons I have not worked with D in a month. One month. When I called to say that I was there, D didn't know who I was. I cried in my car.  And then we started working out and Everything came back. D remembered 75% of what we were doing. I was jumping up and down on the inside. 

Regular exercise will not reverse the damage that Dementia and Alzheimer's can to to the brain, but it can slow the process.  My goal with D is not to lose weight. It is to get that oxygen to the brain. Some days will be a huge struggle, but some days like today will remind me just how important my job is.

Have a Blessed Evening,

Jennie
xoxo


****Please note****


 If you feel like you are alone on your journey and you just need some encouragement I am here for you! Shoot me an email and I will do my best to check in on you or give you the words of support you need several times a week. The journey is so much easier if you have support.

jhendersonfit@gmail.com 
Check out my Facebook Page for Confessions (there are before and work-in-progress pictures):

http://www.
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yeah, sorry, I messed up and the "l" is missing....I need an assistant :-)

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