Most of us understand that physical exercise is good for our bodies in dozens of ways… http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/exercise/HQ01676 but it is also good for our brains. (got exercise? http://www.goanimal.com/exercises/exercises.html )

In early human activities such as hunting, gathering, or evading; thinking and locomotion were directly associated and linked. People thought mainly to choose from possible movement/actions; see deer- shoot; see berry- pick; see bear- run!… . Mind/thought and body/movement evolved together and are still directly tied to each other physiologically.

This means that physical exercise is designed to amp up brain structure and functioning in preparation for more thought and action. The inverse is also true, positive thought/intention can also improve body structure and functioning. Sounds odd, but true.

At a cellular level it has been observed that exercise increases BDNF (brain derived neurotropic factor) that increases brain cell grow, number and strength of neural connections. Those connections are needed in all brain functioning, memory, learning and mood regulation. This is especially important if you are the owner of a brain under stress as stress releases a neurotoxin called Corticotropin releasing factor whose debilitating effects can only be counteracted with brain growth.

• Check out any of the brain studies, since BDNF acts on our old hippocampus, which we share with rats, research with rats and not just people will be informative to look at here. You will find studies that document:
• Just walking sedately for 30 minutes, 3 times a week improveing learning, concentration and abstract reasoning by as much as 15 per cent.
• improving exam grades in school kids
• reducing stress hormone CRF " promoting the growth of new brain cells through increasing BDNF… is in fact the best method for promoting the growth of new brain cells
• strengthening the hippocampus, which is involved with learning and memory. " especially the back bends in Yoga improving brain's ability to regulate mood
• In 2001, researchers at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation in Ohio asked volunteers to spend just 15 minutes a day thinking about exercising their biceps. After 12 weeks, their arms were 13 per cent stronger.
• http://www.dearshrink.com/brainexercise.htm
• http://www.sciencenews.org/articles/20060225/bob10.asp

And this is just physical exercise... you can do brain exercise where the brain exercises itself creating brain health directly and also whole brain exercises which integrate left and right brain functioning...

Rewiring your Brain: It's Personal