In their study, a group of people who have performed meditation, a form of brain training, could reduce stress, lessen amount of cortisol released and improve attention within five days of training. Meditation does not only mean holding a particular position for a long time and chanting. Meditation would also involve relaxing your body, breathing exercises and visual imagery. It is specifically designed to enhance the level of focus needed to maximize your reading time. Choose a spot preferably a wall and sit or stand in front of it. Begin staring at a particular point within eye level. Draw an imaginary figure of eight on the wall. Complete one full round of tracing then go back to your predetermined point. The other abilities that were found to have improved concerned on reaction speeds, spatial recognition, verbal abilities and heightened self-control. Brain training exercises had been known to improve such cognitive abilities as memory and learning. They were also known to offset diseases like Parkinson s, Alzheimer s and dementia. If you desire to have the kind which led you to various successful steps of development then you must make it a point to engage in training exercises. No matter how simple or complicated they are, you re assured of continued mental fitness. Start by preheating your brain. Here s a basic challenge you can give it. It is a logic-based puzzle which would require you to place numbers in a 9x9 grid. It was popularized by the Japanese company Nikoli in 1986 until it became a hit in 2005. Crossword puzzles. Solving crosswords would help develop different skills like vocabulary, spelling, reasoning, identifying similar and connected words and phrases. In Jean Piaget s theory on children s cognitive development, there are four stages of cognitive growth among children: the sensorimotor stage (during infancy), pre-operational stage (toddler and early childhood), concrete operational stage (elementary and early adolescence_ and formal operational stage (adolescence until adulthood).