World Brain Health Forum 2026: How I Beat My Grandson at Monkey Bars

I Beat My Grandson at Monkey Bars Again — And Science Just Proved Me Right

Let’s cut through the noise: I get younger every year — you can too. And last Tuesday, I proved it again by beating my 12-year-old grandson at monkey bars. Not once. Twice. He blamed my “weird old-man grip strength.” I told him it was brain training disguised as play. He rolled his eyes. But when he tried to copy my swing-and-skip rhythm and wiped out into the wood chips, he muttered, “Okay, Grandpa… what’s your secret?”

My answer? *Never leave the playground.*

You think I’m joking. I’m not. At 85, I’m stronger, sharper, and more coordinated than most 50-year-olds. And it’s not because I discovered some miracle supplement or joined a high-tech neurofeedback clinic (though those are popping up everywhere — more on that in a sec). It’s because I treat every day like recess. I climb. I roll. I balance on curbs. I throw rocks. I dance while cooking. I challenge both sides of my brain — every single day — and let movement be the bridge between them.

The Paris Brain Forum Called. They’re Finally Catching Up.

Earlier this month, I watched the livestream from the **World Brain Health Forum 2026** at the **Paris Brain Institute**. Scientists, neurologists, AI engineers — all gathering to talk about the future of brain health. And what did they keep circling back to? *Play.* Not pills. Not protocols. *Play.*

They showed data from wearable sensors tracking “unstructured movement” in adults over 65. Guess what lit up the brain more than seated puzzles or memory apps? Swinging, climbing, skipping, balancing — the kind of things we used to do between classes. The researchers called it “playful movement for seniors.” I call it *not forgetting how to be human.*

One presenter from the Kapil D. Sethi Brain Health Symposium in Augusta showed how functional training — real-world movement, not machines — improved dopamine response in early Parkinson’s patients. Another demo used VR and exoskeletons to help stroke survivors relearn walking by turning rehab into a jungle adventure game.

And I’m sitting there thinking: *I’ve been doing this for decades. With zero tech. Just a playground and a stubborn refusal to grow up.*

The science is catching up. At last, they’re measuring what we already know: **play for adults health** isn’t a luxury. It’s biology. When you move unpredictably, when you challenge your balance, when you *play*, you fire up the cerebellum, the prefrontal cortex, the basal ganglia — all the parts that start whispering “retirement” way too early.

What Is Considered Play for Adults? Whatever Makes You Grin.

Ah, here’s the question they keep asking: *What is considered play for adults?*

Let me answer that with another question: What made you lose track of time when you were seven?

Was it climbing trees? Chasing friends? Building forts? Spinning until you fell down laughing?

That’s still play. You just need to rediscover it — without shame, without structure, without a fitness tracker judging your heart rate.

For me, play is:

- Walking backward across a balance beam at the park

- Trying to juggle pinecones while humming Bach

- Seeing how far I can skip before my knees complain (spoiler: farther than you think)

- Dancing badly in the kitchen with my wife

You don’t need a PhD. You don’t need a $3,000 neuro-stimulation headset. You need ten minutes and a willingness to look a little ridiculous.

The playground doesn’t care how old you are. It only cares that you show up.

And here’s the thing they don’t tell you in medical journals: **play rewires your brain by surprising it.** When you do the same routine every day — treadmill, TV, pills, bed — your brain goes on autopilot. But when you swing from a bar, or hop on one foot across the driveway, or try to cartwheel (even if you bail), your brain wakes up. *“Whoa. This is new. Let’s pay attention.”*

That’s neuroplasticity. That’s what keeps you young.

One Move You Can Do Today (No Playground Required)

I don’t want you to leave this post thinking, “Cool story, Stephen, but I’m not climbing monkey bars in my loafers.”

So here’s your move. Simple. No equipment. No gym. Do it now — yes, even if you’re reading this in bed.

The Weight-Shift Balance Challenge:

1. Stand with your feet together.

2. Slowly shift your weight to the *outside* edges of your feet. Like you’re balancing on railroad tracks.

3. Now shift to the *inside* edges. Like you’re walking on the seams of the floor.

4. Roll forward onto your toes. Then back onto your heels.

5. Close your eyes. Do it again.

That’s it.

You just activated over 200 muscles. You challenged your vestibular system. You forced your brain to recalibrate in real time. And if you did it with your eyes closed? You gave your prefrontal cortex a wake-up call.

Do this for 90 seconds every morning. In your socks. In your slippers. After coffee. Before the news.

It’s not “exercise.” It’s *play.* You’re exploring your body’s possibilities — like a kid testing the edge of the pool.

And if your dog stares at you like you’ve lost it? Good. That means it’s working.

The Future of Brain Health Isn’t a Lab — It’s a Playground

They’re using AI now to predict cognitive decline. Robotics to restore movement. VR to simulate mountain climbs for people who haven’t walked in years.

All of it is brilliant. All of it has value.

But none of it replaces the raw, messy, joyful act of *moving for the hell of it.*

I’ve spent my life as a potter, a professor, a movement educator — and I can tell you this: the hands that shape clay, the mind that teaches neuroscience, the body that climbs trees — they’re all fed by the same source. **Curiosity. Challenge. Play.**

You don’t have to wait for a diagnosis to start. You don’t have to “get in shape” first. You don’t have to be young.

You just have to move.

Every day.

In ways that surprise you.

That make you laugh.

That make your grandson say, “Wait — *you* can do that?”

Because the truth is, **movement for aging** isn’t about slowing decline.

It’s about *accelerating aliveness.*

It’s about proving — daily — that you’re not done growing.

That your brain isn’t shrinking.

That your body still listens to joy.

Just Keep Moving

I’ll be at the park tomorrow. Probably swinging. Maybe attempting a handstand (with a tree for backup).

You won’t find me in a lab coat or a retirement home brochure.

You’ll find me where I’ve always been: **Never leave the playground.**

Come join me.

There’s room on the bars.

There’s space on the sand.

There’s a lifetime of youth waiting — not in a bottle, not in a scan, but in the simple act of *playing like you mean it.*

So go ahead.

Climb something.

Spin until you’re dizzy.

Try the monkey bars.

And if you fall?

Laugh.

Then get back up.

Because I get younger every year.

And you can too.

Never leave the playground.

— Stephen Jepson

👉 *Ready to start? Visit [neverleavetheplayground.com](https://neverleavetheplayground.com) for free movement challenges, videos, and the real science behind staying young — the playful way.*