Brainfit® Coach training

I’ve been conscientious beyond belief in working through the information and exercises  -  so much so that I wake in the night trying to put names to faces, recalling word lists, stories and shapes!!

The repetition and practice exercises,  along with your suggestions for similar ones, has stimulated me to look for challenges everywhere!

I loved your suggestion of noting times when my memory failed me, and keeping a sleep diary was particularly relevant for me!  I noted well your emphasis on the fact that we must continually and consciously be creating a need for the brain to make new connections. Knowing the skills is one thing but giving time to practise them is another!

I’m still recalling faces, stories, word lists and shapes and memorising phone numbers of friends.  And I’m finding great pleasure in not having to refer to my credit card for details each time I want to order online!

Jenny Watson. New Zealand

Having done the course, I now have a better appreciation of the functionality of the brain and how things tie together. My realisation is that now I see the brain as the cornerstone in its relationship to all of these other areas in our lives and that it plays the most significant part.  Our entire life, activities, environment and attitude has an impact on our brain whether we accept it or not, but we can do something about it before it’s too late. An example of this is (unhealthy) work environments and how they impair mental capabilities and yet the same work environments require us to use our brains productively. To me this is a paradox. We need to work smarter yet we have a potential environment that works against us and our brains (and our overall wellbeing).

Craig R.

Before embarking on this training, I thought I knew a reasonable amount about the brain given my experience and training. Very quickly however, it became clear I had a huge amount to learn and get my head around (no pun intended). The single biggest aha moment for me came very early on when I discovered that we could influence 3 of the 4 causes for brain aging which excited and relieved me no end on a personal level but also professionally thinking how invigorating that fact alone could be for future attendees at my classes. I also found it astonishing that is was only 15 years ago that it was proven that brain cells can regenerate throughout our lives (neuroplasticity). It now makes more sense why so many people still believe that brain aging and “senior moments” are inevitable.

Jude W.

Everything was very interesting I was believing like many people that forgetfulness is part of getting old but what I studied in this course explained to me a lot of things that I did not understand. Specially neuroplasticity. In Saudi Arabia most elderly people attend religious school for two hours five days a week to memorize Muslims holy book (Quran) and to meet their friends and enjoy their time. I was always thinking about how these people could memorize the Quran, they usually need between one to two years to memorize more than 600 pages (they keep it by heart) and my mother in law is one of them. She started to memorize at the age of 70 and ended at the age of 72 and I always told myself it may be because older people were born and lived in quieter communities without the internet or maybe because of their food (because they didn't eat fast food like generation these days)…….but now I understand how they did it and how astonishing our brain is. They are challenging their brain daily by learning something new and they are reviewing their memorized passages. They stay physically active because usually they go to those schools on foot also, they interact with people daily and all these steps are very important to maintain brain health and I think it's a good proof that healthy brain connections and neurons continue to grow right until the end of life if there is something for them to do.

Rima A.

The whole area of neuroplasticity interests me. I was aware of the fact that the brain could rewire itself prior to do the Brainfit® Academy course but I have really enjoyed learning exactly how it does it. I have also enjoyed accumulating a variety of tips and tricks to aid memory - and using them in a practical setting. I taught a friend of mine the keys in the non-dominate hand trick and he now swears by it. My memory for names has improved exponentially and I that in turn means that I am able to connect with people more quickly. It’s also interesting to observe other people struggling to remember my name – I’ll normally feed it back to them after I’ve been called ‘mate’ four or five times (-:

Tim W.

The most interesting part for me was finding out about the different aspects of memory and the range of brain areas involved in processing memories.  It has been quite fascinating.

The skill of remembering names linked to faces will be important for classes.  I enjoyed learning about the brain’s amazing abilities from a medical perspective.

Michael L.

I liked finding out the basics behind the course and the all-important memory. I like biology and I liked finding out how we make a memory, very interesting. We got a taste of real people and the answers they give to the same question. I was able to see how everyone answers things differently and how diverse we all are.

Victoria F.

I have found all of modules very interesting and sometimes really amazing.  How memories are made and that it can continue learning, for me, was the most exciting because it gave me hope for improving my own memory skills and to learn new things.  I did not know that brain neurons kept on growing and had been disappointed that my education started so late in life – but now the world is my oyster so to speak. To actually remember my cell phone number is still giving me a buzz all these weeks later.  My goal is to learn my children, parents and siblings phone numbers and the thrill is I KNOW I can. Focus, Connect, Rehearse - it has become a mantra.  

Now I know how to remember the challenge is now, how to think, for example in the question on how many squares where shown in the cube I saw 22. I was quite confident until I learned the answer!

Dianne L.