b'Domain Four: Intellectual Debasish Mridha, a philosopher and physician said, Knowledge is wealth that cannot be stolen. Any knowledge that is learned, whether on your own time or by having conversations with others, can help contribute towards your intellectual wellness. But what exactly is intellectual wellness? This domain centers around the desire and willingness to increase your knowledge and share it with others. When practicing wellness in this domain, the overall goal is to keep your mind active, curious, and open to new ideas, perspectives, and experiences. Like all the other domains, this one will hold equal importance in your overall wellness. But unlike other domains, intellectual wellness may require a more active approach. Before we go through some ways to practice keeping your mind stimulated, lets understand why it is so important to try and engage your mind. It is important when living with an autoimmune disorder that causes cognitive challenges (such as memory issues or cognitive fog, also known as cog fog or brain fog) to engage in activities that are mentally stimulating. Cognition is dened as the mental action or process of acquiring knowledge and understanding through thought, experience, and the senses. If you are working on finding ways to keep your mind challenged with critical thinking and curiosity, it can help to improve preserve your cognitive function. In a recent study, it was found that intellectual enrichment, which was estimated by education or vocabulary knowledge, lessens the negative effect of brain disease on cognition. Keeping your mind active can also contribute towards boosting your self-esteem and promoting emotional well-beingboth components help with social and mental wellness, respectively. Intellectual wellness encourages problem-solving as well. When living with MS, new challenges may occur, or old challenges can reoccur in a new way. When you participate in activities that require you to critically think and problem-solve, you can use those same ways of thinking towards your MS. For example, perhaps one of your symptoms which hasnt been present for years came back suddenly. By using problem-solving techniques, you are better equipped to handle this symptom and find solutions for how to manage it with your healthcare team. Here are some ways to improve your intellectual wellness with different activities:Stimulate your brain daily with puzzles, crosswords. Play strategy-based games such as chess, card games, and memory games. If you do not want to purchase any games, there are free apps available on your phone or free websites for puzzles, Sudoku, chess, and checkers. Continue learning by taking online courses. Resources such Coursera and YouTube offer free online classes to learn a new skill or gain additional knowledge on a topic you have interest in. For example, if you enjoy nature, there are free videos available on YouTube that can teach you about different national parks, animals, and other nature related topics. Podcasts or audiobooks are also free resources that can help to expand knowledge. Podcasts are available on Spotify, Apple Music, and 14'