Do you know that it is essential to exercise your brain in the way you exercise your body? Many people are unaware of it as there are no physical results for it, but there are indications that exercising your brains make you feel better and active. You might have already heard the old saying ‘use it or lose it’. So most of the researchers believe that this saying applies to your brain as well.
Trying brain exercises is indeed a trend these days as they help sharpen your mind and even improve your intelligence. Contrarily, if you don’t train your brain, it will ultimately lose its ability to handle the neurological damage that is associated with ageing and other factors. This can further make it difficult to work through different mental tasks. Fortunately, the researchers have found several brain exercises that keep the brain’s activity on track. In this article, we have brought seven brain exercises that boost memory and help you remain mindful of your actions. These exercises not only improve your memory but also keeps your brain active for long periods.
Brain Exercises to Boost Memory:
Create a layout of your town from memory:
Have you ever tried to create the map or layout of your town? You might think that you can walk through the streets of your neighbourhood blindly, but try to challenge your brain by actually drawing the layout of your town or neighbourhood from memory. Make sure you include all the major streets, local landmarks and major side streets in the map.
Once you are done with the layout, compare it with your area’s real map. So how was this little exercise? Did it surprise you with every detail, or did you miss some of the things? If the results were accurate, then try creating the layout of a less similar area from your memory. You can try the map of different countries or states to see how well you can locate their landmarks.
Besides, navigating your way to the doctor’s office or supermarket might seem simple when you are driving the car. But remembering the layout of your area or neighbourhood will help activate different areas of your brain.
Play different games:
Playing different games, such as cards, puzzles, and video games, can boost your memory and cognitive functioning. Many studies of young adults have shown that brain training games greatly impact the brain’s memory if played for at least 15 minutes a day. But if we consider the interest in games, this training will be great for any age. There are also games with low-tech options like crossword puzzles, jigsaw puzzles, and sudoku. So try challenging yourself and work hard on the puzzle games to sharpen your mind and memory.
If you want to try crossword puzzles, then try word jumbles. If you like to play jigsaw puzzles, then try turning the pieces so that the images are invisible except the shape. You can also try memory games with your friends, such as the suitcase game. You need to plan an imaginary trip and list all the things you will like to take and start from the beginning to add on those things.
Practise mindfulness:
Many of you might be multitasking, but you fail to pay attention to the smallest things in the process. Hence, you can practise mindfulness and be mindful of what all things you are doing in those moments. Many people do this brain exercise as it helps them to live the moment and remember every detail. It is quite apparent that if you ask your brain to do several things at a time, it will get confused.
So if you need to remember where you kept your keys, watch while you put them up and say out loud to yourself “I put my keys on the dining table.” It will take hardly a few seconds to remember such a piece of information so from next time onwards, focus on the task you perform and pay close attention to it. It will help you remember things and also improve your memory.
Memorize the phone number:
Memorizing digits and names will ultimately strengthen the connection between your brain cells, which can make a huge difference for your memory improvement. Thus, you can try to memorize the 10-digits of your phone number in the format of XXX XXX XXXX to make it easier to remember them. It will be better to remember them in such a format than memorizing continuously like XXXXXXXXXX.
Use mnemonic devices:
You can turn the simple home tasks into brain exercises. For instance, take your grocery shopping list and use the mnemonic devices to memorize your list without even looking at it. One way to memorize the list is to create an acronym of the first letters of all the times. So if you want to buy apples, oranges, mangoes, and bread, then the acronym will be AOMB. Another way is to remember the names by making up a song. You can also try to chunk information and memorize the list by different locations of the grocery store. Once you master this skill, you can challenge yourself to memorize other lists such as state capitals, phone numbers, or presidents.
Stay social:
It has been observed that frequent social interactions improve cognitive abilities and also reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s disease. Thus, if you want to boost your memory, you can participate in any brain exercise every week that involves different people. It can be anything like playing games with family members, attending lectures, or learning a foreign language communication group. Additionally, if you like to spend time with your friends, then you will be more likely to keep up with the brain-boosting activity.
Recall your day:
This brain exercise will surely improve your memory and help you sleep better. You only need to turn your bedtime routine into brain activity. Close your eyes for some time and try to remember each moment of the day. Include everything you did from the moment you woke up until the time you went to bed.
Focus on the details like what you wore, what you did, whom you talked to, what you ate, etc. If you practise this brain exercise regularly, you will notice that you are capable of remembering more details about yourself. Besides, this brain activity does wonders for your health as it improves your concentration, focus, and memory recall.
Conclusion:
Whether you want to play with your mind or improve your memory, you can always try these excellent brain exercises and have a fun time with learning.