Let’s talk about the brain this week, shall we? Not the sexiest topic, but worth thinking about especially if you have any family history or have had to watch elder family members’ brain health decline. I have some of this on both sides of my family. There is a LOT we can do with health & mindset work to keep the old computer functioning well
, sharp as a
You can jump to the Health section for exciting new research about using diet to actually REVERSE Alzheimer’s Disease.
Y’all know I like to go way back with stories… this one starts in my Mommy’s belly . I was the second child of very young parents. My Dad still a teen when I was born! My Mom was often on health kicks (I come by it honestly). She loved reading about being healthy during pregnancy and took tons of vitamins & supplements when she was preggy with me. She always says that contributed to how smart I turned out
. I am glad she gave me such a good start.
So little Jennifer grew up to be Salutatorian of her high school class I was robbed! I should have been Co-Valedictorian as they told me and Rich Humburg we were tied for #1 in our class after our Junior year. We both got straight A’s senior year and his rounded up and mine rounded down **sigh** I did get most of the academic awards at our year-end assembly, like the Math Award, Chemistry Award, Physics Award, etc. etc. A lot of little trophies and certificates to haul home.
I am not trying to be a pompous walrus, just sharing about my brain power and my desire to protect it and help y’all do the same.
Music is VERY important and emotional for me . I think there is a brain connection there for me. My ex-husband was not a music person, he listened to sports talk radio in the car. Oh the heresy! Another story for another day. My husband Simon IS a full-on music lover with emotional connections just like me.
I drove myself to another high school in our town to take my ACT test at the end of my junior year. I had the Scorpions Best of Ballads & Rockers tape rockin’ on the stereo of my hand-me-down-brother-rolled-it-beat-up yellow 1981 Ford Ranger that morning.
I absolutely LOVED those #2 pencil fill-in-the-bubbles standardized tests back in the day . (Do kids still have to do all of those??) All of the public school testing they did on us Gen-Xers from elementary school through high school, I loved every one! Oooooh, testing day! A break from the normal slow monotony of regular classes and time to laser focus on a million questions and fill in the bubbles. Which is exactly what the ACTs and SATs were.
I had the entire Scorps album playing on repeat in my brain as I plugged away at those bubbles all morning and… I scored a 30 on my ACTs. Quite good for a small-town country girl whose school didn’t even offer the level of courses I wanted like calculus in high school. “Senior Math” was the best Bullock Creek HS had to offer back then. Womp. Womp. They told me I could take a bus into Midland Public Schools and waste half a day trying to get calculus. I stuck with what my high school had on offer.
Luckily I picked up calculus quickly and aced it my Freshman year at engineering school, even though those fancy-pants Detroit private school kids had a 2 year head start on me . It was while I was at Michigan Tech getting my chemical engineering degree that I realized I had what I now call my ‘semi-photographic memory’.
My key to doing great at school was to attend all of my classes in person and take good notes (Except 8am Physics. Thank the Lord for Tanya Prezkop who did not party like a rock star and managed to make all of those early classes and take notes for me. Bless you Tanya
).
I would really tune in to the material and take excellent notes of exactly what the professor was trying to convey. I would read the textbook, do all of my homework, and have my notes. It all came easy to me and I really didn’t have to study a lot because I was there for the classes and put that pen to paper with key points.
At the start of Freshman year, I was really afraid of being behind at a well-respected state engineering university. I ended up getting a 4.0 my first semester and was on the Dean’s list. I was shocked! Happily shocked. I knew my study methods worked and could even loosen up a bit and… go to more parties !
I coined the term ‘semi-photographic memory’ after realizing during my tests that I would see the question on the paper, then I would actually be able to review my notes in my mind. I would sort of flip back to the area in my notebook where I knew that topic was and I could actually SEE it! I would know/remember it was on the lower left hand side of the page in blue ink and then sort of tune in and see the exact written notes.
I still do it to this day and it works well as long as I was there absorbing the information and taking notes. Digital works, but handwriting works the absolute best. I often take tons of notes during courses of any kind or learning from others in person. I may never even refer back to the notes, but just the process of writing notes sort of cements it into my brain. Do any of you have a similar process??
This semi-photographic memory has served me very well in life. I graduated magna cum laude with my chemical engineering degree. I took great lab notes at my first job working on the first generation of electric vehicles for General Motors. I did all sorts of engineering and project leadership jobs for Dow Corning over a 17 year career. I still tune in and use this skill for all sorts of health & mindset work or whatever I am fascinated with learning on my entire journey of life.
My brain has served me well in life and… I would like to keep it that way well into my elder years. I always say Great-Grandpa Schweitzer made it to 100, I can do 110! And he had all of his marbles until the very end. He is my brain aging inspiration.
This Week’s Shot of MINDSET
Not that long ago, I was digging around doing some extra research on the cool PSYCH-K® work I do with the subconscious mind. What I discovered is that Rob Williams, the founder of PSYCH-K®, used a lot of the brain science and techniques from Brain Gym and integrated them into the processes used access the subconscious mind and shift our beliefs.
Brain Gym exercises help with learning, memory, and balancing the brain hemispheres. They are quick, easy movements that sort of sync up the body and the brain. You can just search YouTube for Brain Gym exercises and find as many as you like. I love this one that I found which is just over 2 minutes long and has 7 different exercises with the following benefits for the brain:
- Activates both right and left brain hemispheres
- Improves concentration
- Helps in decision making
- Attentiveness
- Logical thinking
- Strengthens the mind
- Alertness
Just click here for this quick BRAIN GYM EXERCISES VIDEO.
This Week’s Shot of HEALTH
In the area of diet & health, I discovered cool new research being done by one of my favorite whole foods plant based (WFPB) diet doctors, Dr. Dean Ornish, on using a WFPB diet to actually REVERSE Alzheimer’s Disease. It IS possible! Very exciting research and I am sure there will be more to come from him and other researchers in this area.
This quick video from NutritionFacts.org highlights Dr. Ornish’s groundbreaking research in this area and how safe, effective, and low cost WFPB diet treatment is compared to the very few drugs on the market even available to treat Alzheimer’s. The drugs are expensive and riddled with awful side effects like swelling or bleeding in the brain in over 1/3 of patients. Eeek!
A follow-up video from Dr. Ornish’s research includes an interview with one of the study participants and his moving testimonial about almost giving up playing bagpipes for events as his memory was failing him. He did Dr. Ornish’s WFPB diet trial and has completely restored his memory and confidence in playing at events and parades. This man’s testimonial was an absolute tear-jerker for me.
I just love seeing the power of healthy diet & lifestyle to clean out our arteries. This allows reversing our nation’s #1 killer heart disease. Studies are now starting to show that cleaning out arteries to the brain can prevent & reverse cognitive diseases such as Alzheimer’s and dementia.
It’s worth considering the power of a WFPB diet if you or anyone you love is suffering with heart disease, cognitive decline, or a whole host of other health conditions that can be prevented, slowed down, put into remission, or even reversed.
P.S. As a reminder, I am offering 25% OFF on all of my PSYCH-K® Mindset Transformation packages and 12 Week Health Transformation programs to help you achieve your health & mindset goals for 2025. Discount Code 2025TRANSFORMATION will automatically be applied at checkout during the whole month of January.
![]() ![]() Jennifer Parsley |
If you are interested in using the power of the mind to uplevel your life, I share mindset expertise every week, along with fun & insightful stories from my own life path from 80s hair band superfan to
chemical engineer to
health & mindset coach (what a journey!).
You will also see plenty of health promoting tips and recipes because I am blown away by the power of intermittent fasting + a healthy diet to prevent & reverse just about any health concern Mindset plays a big part in health and healing too, the power of the Mind Body connection is pretty mind blowing.
You can learn more about the Mindset and Health Transformation work I do here:
I love hearing from you, so don’t be shy about commenting, especially if you have any questions.