Olympia Learning Coach Plays Mind Games

olympia brain fitness
Linda Terry, a local learning coach, will be conducting four brain fitness workshops at Garden Courte Memory Care.
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By Leslie Merchant

olympia brain fitness
Linda Terry, a local learning coach, will be conducting four brain fitness workshops at Garden Courte Memory Care.

Television celebrity Betty White and billionaire Warren Buffet have something in common. Both have advanced years under their belts (ages 92 and 83 respectively) yet both have not allowed a number to dictate their lives. “Use it or lose it” is arguably the number one success strategy utilized by both of these famous and enduring people.

Americans spend millions of dollars each year on fitness and other health related pursuits. Exercises for the torso, gluteus maximus, arms, thighs, even the face and neck have their own special routines. Yet there is one area that is the most affected by lack of exercise and is universally underused by even the fittest of the fit – the brain.

Linda Terry, Brain Fitness Learning Coach, teaches people how to build brain processing efficiency and increase learning ability through targeted brain fitness exercises.

A processing issue with her young son prompted Terry to research tools to help him find success at school. “I found a lady named Marjory Mitchell who specialized in cognitive work on your thinking skills: memory, attention and processing speed. I mentored with her for six years and when she retired I went out on my own.” Since then, Terry has launched a flourishing career helping others reinvent and reconfigure their own brains.

Terry’s clients range in age from 8 to 84 years. She offers classes for many of the retirement communities in Thurston County as well as coaching clients in her office on Budd Bay. “I do brain fitness happy hours for couples, and I donate my time to elders because they really need this with the Alzheimer’s and Dementia epidemic. My goal is to raise brain awareness. They know they need to exercise, they know they need to take their medication. Now what are they going to do to feed their brain?”

Rita Allen was a participant in two of Terry’s classes and is now her first “Elder Ambassador.” She jumped at the chance to assist Terry with the retirement classes. She acts as an assistant during classes and makes sure that each member of the group is covered while Terry is leading the exercises. Terry’s next goal is to bring a Teen Ambassador on board to help get the message out and do trainings with peers.

olympia brain fitnessSo who can benefit from Brain Fitness? Terry says that everyone can benefit, and she has the research to prove it. Currently she focuses on people who struggle to learn or who no longer feel as sharp as they once were. Low-achieving students, middle aged and elderly persons who want to build cognitive reserve, are just a few of the types of clients Terry works with. She also coaches individuals who have sustained traumatic brain injuries or who have chronic physical conditions such as Multiple Sclerosis or Parkinson’s. Athletes who want to up the mental aspect of their sport also make up part of her repertoire.

Garden Courte Memory Care in Lacey is hosting a Brain Fitness seminar beginning on January 30. Terry is coaching a four-week series to help her elderly clients with their focus and processing speed.

Terry says that many memory issues are a result of not paying close attention. “We will do a series of exercises starting out with a base and then I load them so they get continually harder and then I sequence them.” Exercises begin with a brain warm-up that can involve crossing arms and legs and tapping fingertips together. From there, Terry progresses to activities that include visual and physical exercises. For example, a visual activity is the Stroop Test, a series of words written in different colors where the goal is to read the correct word or color without tripping up. Check it out online for a morning warm-up or an afternoon pick-me-up.

“With 86 billion neurons, you want to create as many pathways as possible because you lose them over time,” Terry says. Her message is that people shouldn’t wait until they are elderly or having mental issues to do some cognitive training.

Terry will be conducting four training sessions on consecutive Thursdays at Garden Courte Memory Center, beginning January 30.  The workshops will run from 1:30 – 3:00 p.m. and cost $10.  To register, call 360-491-4435.

For more information on how to “Use it or Lose it,” please contact Linda Terry at (360) 480-1894 or Linda.Terry4@gmail.com.

 

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