My Fair Solitaire

You surely have played at least one game in your life. The oddly satisfying sound of the digital cards being shuffled and dealt on the ubiquitous Windows program, the meditative scanning of the cards in front of you. Solitaire (also known as Patience) is one of the most commonly played card games in the west. That being said, I rarely find most people taking full advantage of what this game has to offer. Relaxation and brain benefits make Solitaire a must do hobby everyone can benefit from.

After a long day at work, when you have important work and decisions that need to be taken care of or the countless other causes of stress you're going to experience, Solitaire has a way of taking those pressures off. Bringing you back into this moment, letting you take a new perspective on pressing problems. Solitaire demands your full attention, never letting your mind wander too far before your game starts going off the rails. You start thinking of deadlines and before you know it you notice you've been over looking an obvious move the whole time. You think to your self  " I can worry, or I can play this game I started and enjoy myself." The path of less resistance is clear. Scanning your cards, searching your deck analyzing your potential moves has a meditative quality, bringing your mind back to center.

Today countless people are looking for an edge, a way to give your brain a boost ahead of the competition. A way to think more creatively and tackle problems. I've found Solitaire trains the brain and your thought processes to work in new, more efficient ways. The game requires you to spread your resources carefully, to calculate the probability of what lies ahead. Juggling a series of patterns of numbers and different card suits helps the brain practice handling multiple tasks at once. I believe the game is a safe and fun way to help you give your mind an edge. Practicing your strategic thinking and problem solving skills, helping your brain grow and strengthen without drugs or expensive programs. 

The market today is flooded with games that claim to help your brain and  performing executive tasks. There is a good body of research on the efficacy of these popular games, as well as Solitaire, Chess and numerous others. The results for modern brain training games tend to come back skeptical at best. At the same time, there is a growing body of research and science I wont bore you with, showing Solitaire and other classic strategy based games can help you enjoy yourself and give your brain a work out.