Often, you will hear people say that in order to live a happy life, above all other things you need to have peace of mind. This is by all means true and some of the ways used to achieve this are yoga and meditation. By the look of things, meditation offers more than that. Research has shown it also improves your memory. Mindfulness meditation especially trains the mind not to go down negative neuro-pathways and help it work better. It works so by reducing stress and increasing memory while you are at it.
Meditation and memory
Research shows that meditation changes the structure of the brain. In essence, meditation thickens the brain’s cerebral cortex. This happens because blood flow in the area is improved and the size of the blood vessels improved. The cortex is responsible for certain mental functions such as learning, memory and concentration.
A look at how meditation improves memory, we study an article published in the Time Magazine “How To Get Smarter, One Breath At A Time”. The author Walter Zimmerman looks at meditation as a means of improving memory. It enables him to deliver high-quality information to his client. His job entails analyzing energy futures. A high-pressure job if you ask me. According to Zimmerman, daily meditation helps him achieve sharp focus and remember plentiful facts. He meditates every day, in the morning and evening, for roughly forty minutes. Now, that should challenge you start doing the same if you are looking how to improve memory.
In another study conducted by the University of Washington, meditation was shown to contribute greatly in staying focused and staying on task. Participants in the research were put in stressful multitasking situations. They were to perform a myriad of tasks and those who practiced meditation regularly were shown to outshine their counterparts. The study showed that meditation, memory and attention are closely related.
Other than improving memory, meditation helps the brain in the following ways:
1. Acts as an anti-aging remedy
Memory loss is often triggered by stress. As you age, stress will not only make you age prematurely physically but also mentally. Meditation helps an individual stay stress-free and age gracefully while at it.
2. Boosts concentration
Lacks of attention towards certain things do come to haunt us sooner or later. The last thing you want to happen forgets an important meeting you were to attend; that was announced when you weren’t listening. Now to avoid this, you may need to embrace meditation which will teach you to be focused each and every moment. It helps you remember things by storing them in memory and attaching each one of them some significance.
3. Retrieval of untapped subconscious memory stores
Have you ever tried to recall information learnt so long ago but you couldn’t? This happens to most of us every once in a while. What if I told you there is a way of retrieving with much ease this seemingly long forgotten information? Well, the solution lies in meditation. Since the brain does not have a means of discarding memories, everything stays stored in the memory subconsciously. A means of retrieving the data is all that is required. This is where meditation steps in. It harnesses the power of the subconscious mind and in the process allowing retrieval of these memories in a natural and healthy manner.
4. Strengthens the mind
As you age, the last thing you want is for our brain health to lose its power. If anything you would wish that it remains in great shape and active. The lifecycle of the brain shows that it peaks up to a certain level then from there it starts fluctuating in terms of its capacity. Through mediation, the mind reaches high levels of concentration. As this is happening, the mind is exercised and strengthened. Mental muscles are exercised and the life span of the brain prolonged. This is important to ensure you don’t suffer memory loss in old age. Your ability to store new memories in the mind is also enhanced.
Conclusion
The most efficient and cost friendly means of keeping the mind in shape is evidently through meditation. It won’t take you a day to achieve this but continuous meditation in the long term. About twenty minutes of mediation per day will do you lots of good than you know. Other techniques such as yoga can also be incorporated to bring out the best in you every day. Above all, don’t forget other things that make you stay healthy such as eating the right types of food and drinking sufficient amounts of water. All these things work synergistically to help you stay strong and happy which what we are all trying to achieve at the end of the day.
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