Brain on the Move Brain on the Move
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Joanna Podgórska; photo: private archive
Wellbeing

Brain on the Move

An interview with Joanna Podgórska
Sylwia Niemczyk
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time 11 minutes

Giving your gray matter a workout is a great idea, but the brain can also benefit hugely from mere physical activity. In her conversation with Sylwia Niemczyk, Dr. Joanna Podgórska, a neurobiologist and science popularizer, explains how physical exercise impacts our memory and thinking.

Dr. Podgórska talks about biology and chemistry in such an engaging and lucid way that thousands of people follow her on Instagram. She promotes a healthy lifestyle, referring not only to her own experience but also to research findings from all over the world. Podgórska gave up her academic career (although that’s not final!) to popularize science. In her recent book Tak działa mózg (How the Brain Works), she argues that we’re not helpless when aging. We can reverse the effects of aging or, even better, prevent them from happening. We simply need to make some effort. 

Sylwia Niemczyk: Is it true that juggling is better for the human brain than doing crosswords or sudoku?

Joanna Podgórska: Juggling is wonderful, and I recommend it to everyone. Joking aside, activities that engage both sides of the body are highly recommended from the perspective of neurogenesis and neuroplasticity. Juggling balls is only one example; one can also try writing alternately with the right and left hand or go cycling. It’s true that at some point in my book,
I recommend juggling balls, but I also discuss the importance of intellectual effort. I mean, however, a real effort: what matters is an adequate, relatively high level of difficulty. 

Do you mean that, while Przekrój crosswords will work in this context, simple crosswords that take five minutes to complete won’t? 

The only beneficial aspect of the latter is killing time. But there is another, very good exercise for the brain: turn the

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photo by Agnieszka Rostkowska
Breathe In

The Path of Joy

Agnieszka Rostkowska

The way to realizing your greatest joy is through yoga, taken not as a physical excercise but as a way of establishing—or regaining—contact with yourself, says renowned yoga and meditation teacher Mayur Karthik. And the good news is that to reach this state, one doesn’t have to shut oneself away in an Indian ashram (but sometimes it’s worth it).

Agnieszka Rostkowska: Shall we talk about joy? While we seek it out in workplaces, in family, in friends, Eastern philosophy and traditions quite precisely guide us to where, or how, we can find long-lasting joy.

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