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

A good memory and a sharp mind are not innate human talents, but skills that can be developed and trained by both children and adults. For this, there is a set of special exercises and methods aimed at improving brain activity and synchronizing the functioning of the brain hemispheres.

Human brain and memory training

Just like the body, the brain needs exercise. Many tasks that create new neural connections gradually become routine and reduce the brain's ability to focus and concentrate on new things. The reason for this is the violation of interhemispheric interaction and the lack of their equivalent development.

A person's desire to learn new things, which forms new neural connections, contributes to the normalization of brain functioning. But the lack of "food" for the brain slows down the learning process due to the deterioration of memory, lack of quick reaction and the ability to think creatively.

An effective way to restore and improve mental and cognitive abilities is to perform special brain training exercises. Daily exercise helps to improve brain activity and thus human cognitive abilities, which include thinking, memory, speech, perception, imagination and attention.

benefits

What are the benefits of exercise for the brain?

• Concentration and reaction speed increase;
• memory improves;
• emotional resistance to negative factors increases;
• coordination of movements improves;
• have more energy to complete daily tasks;
• The hidden abilities of the brain are revealed;
• The quality of sleep improves.

Brain exercises are often prescribed by psychotherapists to treat neurosis, depression and emotional burnout. Exercise helps to switch from negative thoughts, divert attention and restore a person's productivity.

Peculiarities

You need to train your brain throughout your life, starting from infancy and continuing into adulthood. In its principle, gymnastics for improving memory and brain activity is the same for both children and adults, but it has a number of characteristics.

in adults

Forgetfulness, poor orientation in space and a general decline in performance can be seen in all people over the age of 20. Common causes are bad habits, poor sleep, and irregular work schedules, which overload the brain with an abundance of information. In order to normalize the functioning of the brain and return the sharpness of the intellect, you need to review your lifestyle, be physically active, be able to relax and devote 5 minutes a day to thematic exercises.

Also, adults should not forget the methods of children's brain development - fine motor skills exercises, studying poetry, storytelling, etc. Sh.

in 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 the age of 2-3 years, when the child's brain absorbs much more energy than the brain of an adult.

A key and popular way to develop the brain in children is through educational games that combine activities to improve hand-eye coordination, concentration, and motor skills. In addition, the equal development of the cerebral hemispheres is positively influenced by:

• finger gymnastics;
• breathing exercises;
• logarithm;
• listening to music;
• dance
• reading and conveying what has been read;
• Creativity: modeling, drawing, knitting, etc. Sh.
• self massage
• kinesiological exercises;
• Didactic games: comparing objects, guessing the subject by description, etc. Sh.

All this contributes to the improvement of interhemispheric interaction, which affects the formation of healthy self-esteem and the success of the child. And the desire to learn new things can become a useful habit for the child, which will help him throughout his life.

How to develop memory

Memory is closely related to other cognitive abilities that also require development. Therefore, we should approach its development comprehensively, perform special exercises and change your daily life using other interesting ways that we will discuss later.

The best exercises

Lessons should be held in a calm environment. Duration of training is from 5 to 20 minutes. It is also important to complicate the exercises 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 based on educational kinesiology.

Exercise 1. "Brain buttons"

Exercise helps the brain to "launch" and work.

1. Stand up straight, back straight.
2. With one hand, massage the recesses between the first and second ribs on the left and right under the collarbones. The other hand is placed on the navel, which allows you to focus on the center of gravity.

Exercise 2. "Hooks"

1. Take any comfortable starting position: standing, sitting or lying down, legs crossed.
2. Extend your arms forward, cross your hands towards each other and curl your fingers.
3. Turn your arms inward at chest level so that your elbows point down.
4. Return to the starting position. Repeat 8-10 times.

Exercise 3. "Knee-elbow"

1. Starting position: standing.
2. Lift and bend your left leg at the knee.
3. Touch the elbow of the right hand to the knee of the left leg. Then repeat the movement with your right foot and left hand. Do 8-10 repetitions.

Exercise 4. "Elephant"

1. Starting position: standing, in a relaxed position. Knees slightly bent.
2. Tilt your head to your shoulder. From this side, extend your arm forward, like a trunk, and draw a horizontal figure eight, starting from the center of the visual field, upwards and counterclockwise. Important: the eyes follow the movement of the fingertips.

Perform the exercise slowly 3-5 times with the left hand on the left ear and the same number of times with the right hand on the right ear.

Exercise 5. "Painting a mirror"

1. Take markers or a pen in both hands.
2. Mirror-symmetrically draw numbers, letters, etc. with both hands. Sh.

Additional exercises for maximum involvement of the brain in work:

1. "Fist-palm". Spread both arms in front of you. Press the fingers of the left hand into a fist, straighten the right hand. Next, consistently change the position of the fingers, gradually speeding up your movements.
2. "The winner". The fingers of one hand show a "V" gesture, the other shows "OK". Alternate hands, gradually increasing speed.
3. "Horns and Legs". One hand shows the horns, the other shows the feet (thumb, index and middle fingers). Alternate hands, gradually increasing speed.
4. On the one hand, sequentially connect the thumb with all other fingers, starting with the index. Do the same with the other hand, but starting with the little finger. Do the exercise with both hands at the same time.
5. "Puzzles". On the one hand, bend all fingers except for the index and middle fingers, on the other - except for the ring and little fingers. Connect them like puzzles. Change hands, gradually speed up the movements.

for memory

Simple and effective exercises to improve memory:

1. Route map.Draw a map of the route you take to work. Try to remember everything down to the smallest detail: names of streets, metro stations, bus stops, shops you met on the way.
2. alphabet.Quickly think of words for each letter of the alphabet.
3. a magician.For this exercise you will need a deck of playing cards. Shuffle and memorize the order of the first 3-5 cards from the deck. Shuffle the deck and find these cards.
4. carbon copy.Find any image on the Internet or take a banknote. Study the picture for a minute and draw what you see on the paper from memory. Then check the drawing against the original to identify missing details.
5. Memorize a school poem or learn your favorite songs. Also great for memory training.
6. Before going to sleep, remember the people and things that surround you. If you attended the lecture, try to recall all the material in your head.
7. Get an object. Look at it in detail for a minute. Then deviate from the topic and try to describe it by writing a detailed review.

other methods

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

1. Always learn new things.Minimal load on the brain and lack of new information leads to deterioration of memory and other cognitive abilities. Also, diverting your attention to something unrelated to your work helps to develop resistance to stress. The best options are learning foreign languages, online courses, needlework, etc. Sh.
2. Play mind games, solve crosswords, puzzles. This will help you keep your mind clear and expand your horizons.
3. Get out of your comfort zone.For example, take a different path at work, take up a hobby that you were afraid of, actively meet and connect with people in real life.
4. Engage simultaneouslyBoth hemispheres of the brain. Brush your teeth, eat, open the door, hold the handle with your non-dominant hand.
5. Read, write by hand.Reading trains memory, activates imagination and creative thinking. And handwriting is a great way to develop motor skills.

Equally important is the ability to relax. Avoid sleep deprivation and learn to meditate. The brain needs rest and relaxation.

Products for memory and brain development

In order to keep your brain active, it is important to follow your diet. A healthy daily diet should include proteins, healthy fats and complex carbohydrates. You can also include in your menu the following products that support brain activity:

1. oily fish.A source of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids, which affect the active saturation of brain cells with oxygen and nutrients.
2. bitter chocolate.Chocolate with 70% cocoa content slows down age-related mental decline and prevents cognitive decline.
3. eggs. Egg yolks contain choline, which the body uses to make the neurotransmitter acetylcholine, which is responsible for memory and mood.
4. Whole grain breads and cereals.Cereal improves metabolism, fills us with energy and improves blood circulation in the brain, thanks to the content of vitamin B6.
5. I'm coming.A source of melatonin, which prevents the aging of brain cells and improves the condition of blood vessels.

Also, for active brain activity, it is important to maintain fluid balance by drinking enough drinking water every day.

Prevention

It is important for a clear mind, good memory and active functioning of the brain:

1. Get rid of bad habits.Smoking, alcohol and taking psychotropic substances inhibit blood flow in the brain, which leads to oxygen starvation and death of neurons.
2. on foot.Daily walking saturates the brain with oxygen and promotes the development of concentration and memory.
3. Exercises.Physical activity improves blood circulation, improves memory, coordination of movements and improves health.
4. Give it to the brainuniform loadAnd don't forget to rest.
5. Follow good sleep hygiene.Sleep at least 7-8 hours. Sleep is necessary for the brain to rest, strengthen the necessary and destroy unnecessary nerve connections.

The main thing is to exercise every day. Only regular exercise will give the desired result.