LYNNWOOD — It sounds so counterintuitive: The best place to have a meeting is on a walk, not around an office table.
And when a task seems insurmountable, take the same prescription — go for a walk.
This isn’t just well-intentioned advice. John Medina has a doctorate degree in microbiology. He has made a career of telling people the steps they can take so their brain can work at peak performance, based on scientific studies.
Medina, the author of “Brain Rules,” is scheduled to speak Tuesday at a daylong health conference at the Lynnwood Convention Center titled “At The Edge of Amazing.”
The event is hosted by the Providence Institute for a Healthier Community in partnership with the Snohomish County Health Leadership Coalition.
This is the third year of a countywide effort to find ways to improve the health of the community. This year’s theme is “The Courage to Care.” More than 300 people are expected to attend.
The event also will include a presentation by Benjamin Miller, a founding director of the Eugene S. Farley Jr. Health Policy Center, based in Aurora, Colorado.
Miller has worked to connect mental and physical health so patients can get more comprehensive care.
Medina said there’s a strong connection between brain function and aerobic exercise of any kind. As little as 10 minutes of walking will change things, he said. It allows people to be “vastly more productive in any way you can measure it.”
When sitting at a desk, blood pools in the ankles and butt — a sleep signal to the body.
Exercise in essence performs a “refresh” function on the brain, helping it shift focus and then remember and return to the task that was interrupted.
It also helps with anger management and regulating emotion, Medina said.
Theories on how exercise energizes the brain were first tested on sedentary people in Japan who played Xbox all day. They were asked to start exercising.
A few weeks later, their performance on specific brain skills improved. When part of the group was told to stop exercising, their scores began to plummet, Medina said.
Exercise can help the brain’s performance “turn off and on like a light switch,” he said.
One common factor in work and home life is stress. It’s not just the stress that hurts the brain, it’s the “inability to feel in control of the things that are bothering you,” he said.
For example, someone is given a task, but not given the budget to make it happen. “That stuff gets to people,” and people can’t function well, he said.
Create a list of steps that can help relieve the stress, and, if necessary, “you need to quit,” he said.
Stress also can be relieved by understanding the intentions and motivations of others. Even spouses don’t always understand what their mate is feeling — and it may be quite different from one’s own reaction, Medina said.
“Some people call it empathy,” he said. “When you have empathy in relationships, it’s like putting oil between gears.”
Having people write out the motivations of fictional characters has been shown to improve their ability to understand the feelings and motivations of others, he said.
Stress also can be defused with what is called mindfulness. Similar to meditation, it allows the mind to pause and de-charge.
“When you get stressed, you start forming these loops in your mind, ruminating, recycling something over and over,” Medina said. “Mindfulness stops that cycle.”
With all that’s known about brain function, Medina said he wonders why the principles aren’t put into practice more widely.
“It’s really weird how little we pay attention to the brain, given we know some of the requirements it needs to function well,” he said. “We ignore it to our peril.”
Sharon Salyer: 425-339-3486 or salyer@heraldnet.com
“At the Edge of Amazing,” a daylong countywide health conference, is scheduled Sept. 19 at the Lynnwood Convention Center, 3711 196th St SW. Registration is open through Sept. 15. The cost is $125.
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