Brain Exercise: How to Improve Your Memory in Five Minutes a Day

A good memory and a sharp mind are not innate human talents, but are skills that both children and adults can develop and train. To this end, there are a series of special exercises and methods designed to improve brain activity and synchronize the function of the brain hemispheres.

Human brain and memory training

Just like the body, the brain also needs training. Many tasks that used to create new neural connections become routine and reduce the brain's ability to focus and focus on new things. The reason for this is the violation of interhemispheric interactions and the lack of equal development.A person's desire to learn new things forms new neural connections that help normalize brain function. But a lack of "feeding" to the brain can slow down the learning process due to memory loss, lack of ability to react quickly and think creatively.An effective way to restore and improve mental and cognitive abilities is through specialized brain training. Daily training helps improve brain activity, thereby improving one's cognitive abilities, including thinking, memory, speech, perception, imagination, and concentration.

benefit

What are the benefits of gymnastics for the brain:

• Concentration and reaction rate increase;
• Improved memory;
• Increased emotional resistance to negative factors;
• Movement coordination improves;
• Have more energy to complete daily tasks;
• The hidden abilities of the brain are revealed;
• Improved sleep quality.

Psychotherapists often prescribe brain gymnastics to treat neurosis, depression, and emotional burnout. Exercise helps get rid of negative thoughts, distracts attention, and restores one's productivity.

Features

You need to train your brain throughout your life, starting in infancy and continuing into adulthood. The principle that gymnastics improves memory and brain activity is the same in children and adults, but has many special features.

aldult

Everyone over the age of 20 develops forgetfulness, poor spatial orientation, and a general decline in performance. Common causes include bad habits, poor sleep quality and irregular work schedules, which can overload the brain with information. In order to normalize brain function and regain mental sharpness, you need to rethink your lifestyle, stay physically active, be able to rest and spend 5 minutes a day practicing the subject.In addition, adults should not forget about children's brain development methods - fine motor skills practice, learning poetry, retelling, etc.

among children

The degree of development of interhemispheric connections determines a child's academic performance, proper coordination of movements, communication with peers, speech quality, and emotional intelligence. The development of new neural nodes should begin at 2-3 years of age, when children's brains absorb more energy than adult brains.The main and popular way to develop children's brains is through educational games that combine a variety of activities to improve hand-eye coordination, concentration and motor skills. In addition, the equal development of the cerebral hemispheres is favorably affected by:

• finger gymnastics;
• breathing exercises;
• logical rhythm;
• listen to music;
• Dance;
• Read and repeat what you read;
• Creativity: modeling, painting, knitting, etc. ;
• self-massage;
• kinesiology exercises;
• Teaching games: compare objects, guess objects by describing them, etc.

All of these help improve interhemispheric interactions, which impacts the development of healthy self-esteem and your child's success. The desire to learn new things can become a useful habit in your child that will serve him throughout his life.

How to develop memory

Memory is closely related to other cognitive abilities that also need to be developed. Therefore, its development should be considered comprehensively, with specialized exercises and with other interesting ways of changing your daily life, which we will consider later.

best practice

Lessons must be conducted in a calm environment. Exercise time is 5 to 20 minutes. It is also important to complicate the exercise by increasing the number of repetitions, adding additional gestures, movements and sounds.

for the brain

The following set of neurogymnastics exercises were developed by American psychologists Paul and Gail Dennison on the basis of educational kinesiology.Exercise 1. "Brain Button"Exercise helps "prime" the brain and adapt to work.

1. Stand up straight with your back straight.
2. Use one hand to massage the depression between the first and second ribs on the left and right below the collarbone. Place your other hand on your belly button to focus your attention on your center of gravity.

Exercise 2. "Hook"

1. Take any comfortable starting position: standing, sitting, or lying down with your ankles crossed.
2. Stretch your arms forward, crossing your palms and interlocking your fingers.
3. Turn your arms inward to chest level, keeping your elbows down.
4. Return to starting position. Repeat 8-10 times.

Exercise 3. "Knees and Elbows"

1. Starting position: standing.
2. Lift your left leg and bend it at the knee.
3. Touch your left knee with your right elbow. Then repeat with your right leg and left arm. Do 8-10 times.

Exercise 4. "Elephant"

1. Starting position: Standing, in a relaxed position. Bend your knees slightly.
2. Tilt your head toward your shoulders. Starting at this shoulder, extend your arms forward, like a tree trunk, and draw a horizontal figure-eight upwards, starting from the center of your field of view and counterclockwise. Important: Follow the movement of your fingertips with your eyes.

Press your left hand on your left ear and slowly perform the exercise 3-5 times, then press your right hand on your right ear and perform the same number of times. Exercise 5. "Mirror Drawing"

1. Hold a marker or pen in both hands.
2. Use both hands simultaneously to draw numbers, letters, etc. in mirror symmetry on a piece of paper.

Additional exercises to maximize brain engagement:

1. "Fist palm. " Stretch your arms in front of you. Make a fist with the fingers of your left hand and straighten your right hand. Next, keep changing the position of your fingers and gradually speed up your movements.
2. "winner". Make a "V" sign with the fingers of one hand and an "OK" sign with the fingers of the other hand. Alternate hands and gradually increase speed.
3. "Horns and Legs. " Show the horns with one hand and the legs (thumb, index and middle finger) with the other hand. Alternate hands and gradually increase speed.
4. On one hand, starting from the index finger, connect the thumb to all the other fingers in sequence. Do the same thing with your other hand, but start with your pinky finger. Perform the exercise with both hands at the same time.
5. "puzzle". On one hand, bend all your fingers except your index and middle fingers, and on the other hand, bend all your fingers except your ring and little fingers. Connect them like a puzzle. Switch hands and gradually speed up the movement.

for memory

Simple and effective exercises to improve memory:

1. Route map.Draw a map of your route to work. Try to remember all the details: street names, metro stations, bus stops, shops you encounter along the way.
2. letter.Quickly come up with words for each letter of the alphabet.
3. magician.For this exercise, you will need a deck of playing cards. Shuffle the deck and memorize the order of the first 3-5 cards in the deck. Shuffle the deck and find the cards.
4. carbon copy.Find any image on the internet or take a banknote. Study the painting and draw what you see on paper from memory. The drawing is then checked against the original drawing to identify any missing details.
5. Memorize a school poem or learn your favorite song. It is also great for memory training.
6. Before going to bed, remember the people and things around you. If you attend a lecture, try to reconstruct all the material in your mind.
7. Take some objects. Take a minute to look at this in detail. Then leave the topic and try to describe it by writing a detailed review.

Other methods

In addition to specialized exercises, there are other effective ways to activate the brain and improve memory:

1. Keep learning new things.Minimal brain load and a lack of new information can lead to decline in memory and other cognitive abilities. Additionally, shifting your attention to non-work-related matters can help increase your stress tolerance. The best options are learning foreign languages, online courses, crafts, etc.
2. play mind games, solving crossword puzzles, puzzles. This will help keep your mind clear and broaden your horizons.
3. Get out of your comfort zone.For example, take a different route to work, develop a hobby that scares you, and actively meet and communicate with people in real life.
4. Participate simultaneouslytwo hemispheres of the brain. Brush your teeth, eat, open doors, and hold handles with your non-dominant hand.
5. Read and write by hand.Reading can train memory, activate imagination and creative thinking. Handwriting is a great way to develop motor skills.

Equally important is being able to rest. Avoid sleep deprivation and learn to meditate. The brain needs to relax and rest.

Memory and Brain Development Products

To keep your brain active, it's important to watch what you eat. A healthy daily diet should include protein, healthy fats, and complex carbohydrates. You can also add the following brain activity-supporting products to your menu:

1. Fat fish.Source of Omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, which influence the active saturation of brain cells with oxygen and nutrients.
2. Bitter chocolate.Chocolate containing 70% cocoa may slow age-related mental decline and prevent cognitive impairment.
3. Egg. Egg yolks contain choline, which the body uses to produce the neurotransmitter acetylcholine, which is responsible for memory and mood.
4. Whole wheat breads and cereals.Grains are rich in vitamin B6, which improves metabolism, replenishes energy and improves blood circulation to the brain.
5. tomato.Source of melatonin, which prevents brain cell aging and improves blood vessel conditions.

In addition, for active brain activity, it is also important to drink enough drinking water every day to maintain fluid balance.

prevention

For a clear mind, good memory, and active brain function, the following are important:

1. Get rid of bad habits.Smoking, drinking alcohol, and taking psychotropic drugs can impair blood circulation to the brain, leading to oxygen deprivation and neuron death.
2. Walk.Daily walking fills the brain with oxygen and helps improve concentration and memory.
3. exercise.Physical activity improves blood circulation, helping to improve memory, coordination of movements, and better health.
4. to the brainuniform loadAnd don't forget to take breaks.
5. Maintain good sleep hygiene.Sleep at least 7-8 hours. Sleep is necessary for the brain to rest, strengthen necessary neural connections, and destroy unnecessary neural connections.

The most important thing is to train every day. Only regular exercise can achieve the desired results.