In this fast-paced world, while we struggle to improve our lives, our health is becoming a big question. Even if we consume wholesome food, the struggle of life is affecting our mental health.
Do you know what exactly is mental health? It is the emotive, mental, and social well-being that influences how we feel, behave and reflect. So, now that we know how important mental and emotional health is for our well-being, we should know how to maintain it.
While the environment and circumstances are not in our control, we should adapt our lifestyle to what is best for our health. Mindfulness about mental well-being and practices has considerably increased over the years. Many things contribute to a fit and empowered mental state. Engaging in mental math exercises supports better emotional health.
We know that mathematics is about numbers, quantities, shapes, and reasoning, and fuels the brain that notably boosts mental power.
How Does Math Support Mental Health?
Do you know what is mental math? It is a combination of skills that enable people to calculate math in their minds without using any stationery or calculator. Mental math is useful in school and everyday life and can boost students’ understanding of math concepts.
You can practice by calculating simple questions in your mind such as if one kg of apples costs $ 0.38, how much will 5kgs cost? The answer is simple, you can multiply by 10 (and move decimals ahead) and divide by 2. The answer is $19. Mental math can also be a part of your math homework and used in daily life. If you find difficulty in attempting it, you may get math homework help.
Mental math is encouraged in schools because it has several benefits as mentioned below:
Boosts Brain Power
Research shows that math positively impacts and influences the brain. If you have reviewed Stanford University’s study about math and mental function, it states that a positive attitude about math was linked to improved hippocampus functionality.
So, what is the hippocampus? It is a major part of the brain regarded as a memory center that helps with arithmetic problems. As math helps boost brainpower, it is a known fact that if you expose your brain to challenging math problems, puzzles, and crosswords, it can reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s disease – a mental disorder caused due to shrinking of brain cells.
Studying math in your elementary years at school helps build up and strengthen the brain muscles, makes the memory stronger, and enhances concentration.
Reveals Your Mind’s Resourceful, Creative and Cheerier Side
Before you explore further how mental math is beneficial for your brain, you must vanish the myth that math is only for the rational side or left side of your brain. Experts have devised ways to measure different things such as wavelengths used to measure music, and we can create new colors by mixing different shades. Similarly, we can evaluate a person’s creativity through developmental math.
When you solve math problems, it certainly enhances your creativity. The reason is that it uses the ingenious side of your mind to imagine and re-conceive. So, when there is a math problem, you have the data and formulae to calculate the answer. It activates your brain’s analytical thinking aptitude and helps build a creative and productive state of mind.
Have you ever experienced that solving a puzzle or online math problems positively influences your mood? The reason is that it activates neurotransmitters and boosts the dopamine levels in your brain which makes you feel happy.
So, if you wish to improve your mental state, you should work on enhancing mathematical fluency rather than just learning or mimicking math. Math help supports the dual working of the brain (both sides work simultaneously) that enables a dynamic, original, and out-of-the-box approach to problems.
Better Confidence and Improved Mental Health
According to psychology, there is an evident association between sensations and emotions to mental well-being. You have more self-confidence and self-worth which helps improve your mental state. You must have enjoyed math exercises in school, but you might not have known the great positive effects it has on your brain’s health and self-confidence.
Develops Understanding of the Real World Affairs
To survive in this world, you must have an understanding of real-world affairs. With so much happening in the world, young minds should be able to sense it and rewire their mind to tackle adversity and life changes. This is why, schools encourage practices like encouraging pupils to be inquisitive, make observations, think of new and imaginative ideas to resolve problems, and formulate an environment that braces innovative mathematical thought practices. Math teaches key concepts that rule the real world. It not only has an all-embracing implementation in real life but is also important for a healthy and satisfied mind.
Fewer Chances of Errors
As mental math is about being rational, however, research shows that if a person learns mental math skills, their mind power meaningfully increases. You will have more understanding of numbers, how they function, and fewer chances of errors.
At a very young age, you will be able to efficiently perform math sums. With expert problem-solving skills, you will not be a professional in math but it will positively influence other subjects’ learning and life situations.
Better Visualization Power
Expertise in mental math will empower you to visualize numbers and make mental calculations. It will strengthen your visualization power, which will help you excel in various life phases. Your enhanced visualization power can improve your performance in science, and arts also. So, you will be a competent, all-rounder, and influential person.
Mental Math is Fun
Mental math is not complicated. It involves simple everyday questions, and solving those is simply fun. If you are interested in strengthening your mental math aptitude, you may join math homework help in UK or online math help in the UK. It is a chance to learn concepts through proven techniques and interesting methods in a pleasing environment, where you will feel motivated and more excited.
Conclusion
Mental math is one of the most fundamental types of learning for young children. It has great importance in our lives. Though it is one of the most useful branches of mathematics, still it is not given much emphasis.
You should know that there is a particular side of the brain that performs mental math. However, if it is not rightly developed at an early age, it may become challenging. This is why mental maths is quite important in the lives of children and young age pupils. And a majority of schools plan mental math lessons for children aged 5-10 years. The reason is that it helps develop them into smart individuals.
However, if you practice mental math, it fuels the brain and boosts learning capacities. It also improves your observation skills and helps develop the association between numbers. Mental math teaches you to be more attentive and strengthens your listening ability. Moreover, if you are good at mental math, you will have a sharper mind, more confidence, and self-esteem.
When you will be able to solve math problems easily, it will boost your interest in the subject and improve your academic performance. You will develop a more positive outlook, and have a better approach to math.
