Don't forget your brain!

(clearly this is a chicken with gears working hard in the brain, right?
No? Ah well, I tried)

It is easy to see from the flood of exercise pins showing up on my pinterest feed that it is the new year.  It's resolution time and for many that means that we are committing to reclaim our younger, fitter bodies with new exercise and diet plans.  Now, I don't have anything against people putting a reasonable amount of time and effort into being healthy, but let's not forget that women are more than just a body. I need to set a good example for my daughter and make sure she is aware of that, but that's a whole 'nother post.

So where are the pins describing how to keep our brains in shape? That seems important too.  I couldn't find any, so I had to come up with my own routine.  Now clearly I'm not a brain expert, but here are some things I'm going to do this year to help strengthen my thinker:

Brain Workout, to be repeated daily:
First, eat healthy foods and get lots of sleep, because both effect cognitive ability

warm-up:
meditation - it's important to take time away from noise and distractions and just think about things.  For me, this includes scripture study and prayers.
Listen to good music.

cardio:
Do something that makes you use your problem solving skills, such as puzzles - either word or jigsaw variety.  
Also, trying to figure out how to get kids to do their chores, not pee on the floor, and help siblings get along all seem like good brain workouts.
Take time to plan creative homeschool lessons
Practice a musical instrument

strength training:
Do some non-fiction reading.
Learn a new skill from the internet or a book.
Write

cool down:
Read a good fiction book 

Do you have any other ideas of how to keep a happy healthy brain?