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Inter Valley Health Plan offers ongoing health related work - shops to Inter Valley and community members who are 65+ or better. We created some simple, but valuable tactics to help curb those “senior moments” for one of these work-shops titled “Maintain a Healthy Brain.” The following are some suggested memory improvement practices:
Exercise Your Brain. Stimulate your mind with logic problems or memory games that force you to do mental gymnastics, which strengthen the nerve connections and activate little-used pathways in your brain to help keep your mind fit.
Take Better Pictures. Often we forget not because our brain is bad, but because our observation skills need work. One common situation where this occurs is meeting new people and remembering their names. One way to train yourself to be more observant is to take an unfamiliar photo, look at it for a few seconds and then turn it over and write down as many details about the picture you can. Try this on several photos. Over time you will find that you can remember more details with shorter glimpses of the photos.
Organize Your Life. Improved organization can free up your powers of concentration so that you can remember things that are less routine. For example, keep your keys and eyeglasses in one place. Use a daily planner to keep track of appointments as well as the dates when bills are due. Also keep all your phone numbers and addresses in one address book.
Repeat the Things You Need to Learn. The more you hear, see or think about something, the more you will remember it. Need to remember your cousin’s birthday? Say it out loud, repeat it several times and even write it down. The more you think about it the chances are you won’t forget.
Go to Bed Early After You Learn Something Important. A Harvard study showed that a good night’s sleep improved your ability to remember something you learned during the day.
Be Motivated and Keep a Positive Attitude. Convince yourself that you do have a good memory that will improve. Too many people accept they have a bad memory and should vow to improve their brain.
Try Meditation. Research suggests that people who practice “mindfulness” meditation are able to focus better and have better memories. It is also thought to increase attention span, focus and memory.
For more information about our Healthy Brain workshop, or any of the other workshops we offer to our members and the community at large, please visit our web page at www.ivhp.com, or call 909-623-6333, x 625.
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