Keep the mind active

Keep the mind active 

People who regularly play board games have been shown to be able to keep the mind active and stay more focused during everyday tasks. And playing games on a regular basis has been shown to help people respond better to situations that require agility or quick thinking.

Play has also been shown to help us all maintain those important cognitive function that support the ongoing release of endorphins that can help relax our muscles, allow blood to flow more easily around the body and ultimately help us to reduce any feelings of stress. 

By incorporating games or using play in your coaching sessions, you can help your clients keep the mind active and practice a range of essential cognitive skills, such as problem-solving and memory development. Plus, if you introduce the games in a relaxed and supportive way, your clients will quickly start to feel less stressed and able to learn or practice key life skills in a more relaxed way.

You can try incorporating a simple coaching tool like a card game to help open up a dialogue with a client who seems distracted, or to get a small group of people working together quickly. And the regular use of play can help us to maintain and strengthen essential cognitive functions within the brain and is seen as one of the long-term defenses against the ageing process that helps us all support our well-being. So why not try using play in your coaching sessions and help your clients keep the mind active and bring some real insight into how they would normally think and react in a range of different situations.

For example:

• Do they naturally take risks or chances?
• Do they follow rules or try to bend them to help them succeed?
• Are they strategic thinkers or do they think creatively?
• Do they take the lead or are they happy to follow?
• Do they support others or undermine them?
• How do they react if they win or lose?