Spark is the name of a new book by John Ratey that explains, in part, how exercise helps to alleviate stress and improve mood.
Another book extolling the virtues of exercise? Ugh! It’s like reading a book that says eating a balanced, healthy diet will improve your health. Yeah, we know — exercise is good!
That’s exactly what I thought. But the subtitle intrigued me: The revolutionary new science of exercise and the brain. Hmmm…
And John Ratey (the author — if you forgot, you might want to lace up those running shoes; exercise helps to improve memory) is a clinical associate professor of psychology at Harvard Medical School and the author of multiple books about the brain.
So I picked-up a copy and have been unable to put it down since. It is nothing short of a wonderful — and accessible — chronicle about the science of, and relationships among, exercise, fitness, neurogenesis, cognitive functioning, and general health and happiness.
I will be sharing some the stories and data from Spark in future posts, no doubt, and kick-off this little new blog with the opening quote of the book:
In order for man to succeed in life, God provided him with two means, education and physical activity. Not separately, one for the soul and the other for the body, but for the two together. With these means, man can attain perfection. —Plato
Let’s collapse the distinction between mind and body.
Play, think…
J.R. Atwood
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