You may start experiencing “senior moments” closer to your final year of college than your first days as being a senior citizen. A study by PLOS One found that people’s reaction time and cognitive ability starts to slow down by age 24 and declines an additional 15 percent every 15 years after that. “Typically, we lose seven to ten milliseconds of brain speed per decade from age 20 on,” reports Richard Carmona, M.D., former U.S. surgeon general. Here are some simple strategies that may help you fight the fade.

 MIND: Try Talk Therapy

Put down the crossword puzzle. An engaging conversation is more mentally stimulating than any brain game. Interacting with others activates your neuronal wiring system, increasing the production of more gray matter cells, (Richard Carmona). Aim to connect with someone every day, whether it’s a close friend or the barista at your favorite coffee shop.

BODY: Refresh Your Fitness Routine

Any physical activity will benefit you mentally, but to maximize the rewards, try a new-to-you workout every few months. The first time you try a new movement, like aerial yoga, your neural networks send messages to the brain to say, ‘I need to learn how to do this!’ This will create new neurotransmitters to support the activity, (Richard Carmona). So when your balance improves, you’re not just stronger- you’re sharper too.

SPIRIT: Find Your Spiritual Side

Meditating, visiting a place of worship, practicing yoga with deep-breathing and other forms of spiritual contemplation engages and strengthens your frontal and temporal lobes, which control memory formation, language comprehension, executive function and more, ( Richard Carmona). These practices improve your resilience to brain-damaging stress.

For me personally, I have started taking aerial yoga classes to further my spiritual side. These classes have helped me develop new physical and mental strengths. Physically, I am obtaining new flexibility and upper body strengths using the hanging fabric. Mentally, I am learning how to control my breathe while being upside down in various yoga positions. This is very challenging to do. Since I was a child, I never liked being upside down. I always had a fear of falling on my head and getting hurt. This class has helped me gather a new appreciation of something I once feared as a younger me. I am learning to take control of my fears and letting them wither away through the power of yoga; mind, body & spirit.

Another form of spiritual guidance I have been engaging in, is returning to my Catholic routes and going back to weekly Mass. Just 2 blocks from my house is a beautiful Catholic Parish called Sacred Heart Catholic Church. The moment you walk into this church you feel an immediate appreciation for the love and beauty of Christ. The hour I spend here each week brings me into continuous reminder that God is with us and in us. Believing this has a huge affect on my behavior and spiritual mind set for the week. My regular attendance (especially when I may not feel like it) is like spiritual exercise, training to submit my will to Christ. I would like to give a shout out to my friend Kim Gazelle for introducing me to this wonderful Tampa church community.

DIET: Eat Healthy Fats

Chronic inflammation can cause cellular death and atrophy in the brain, speeding mental decline, (Richard Carmona). To combat it, load up on some anti-inflammatory omega-3s. Aim to eat one food a day that contains the fatty acids (chia seeds, walnuts or flax seeds are good options).