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25 BRAIN EXERCISES FOR MEMORY THAT ACTUALLY HELP YOU REMEMBER MORE (/ABOUT/NEWS/VIEW/1105/25-BRAIN-
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25 Brain Exercises for Memory That Actually Help You Remember

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The brain is often thought of as similar to a computer. When the brain is powerful and working
properly, it will enable you to perform all your cognitive and bodily functions smoothly and
e ciently, and the reverse is also true.

Unfortunately, our brainpower tends to decline as we grow older. And as you might have seen in
media reports, loss of memory and dementia is a growing concern for people today. Brain wellness
is now right up there with heart health.

If you are nding yourself forgetting things more than usual, it can be a little alarming. But you
need to know you are not helpless when it comes to keeping your brain healthy and powerful.
There are simple brain exercises for memory improvement you can do to boost your brainpower so
you remember more.

According to a 2015 study published in the journal Neurology, older adults who engage in regular
physical exercise like jogging and cycling are less likely to be a ected by age-related brain
illnesses that can limit memory and mobility. And those people who perform regular, targeted
brain exercises keep their brains sharp and healthy, which reduces cognitive decline and memory
impairment.

When you exercise your brain, you will also improve your creative abilities, which will give you a
competitive advantage in your job. Moreover, brain exercises strengthen your ability to think on
your feet and give witty responses, meaning you won’t be lost for words at critical moments in
conversations.

While you can enroll in a number of online brain training programs, experts generally recommend
sticking to brain training exercises that involve real-world activities.

Here’re 25 simple real-world exercises you can do starting today to sharpen your brain and
improve memory.

1. Drive a new route home

As simple as this exercise may sound, taking a di erent route home stimulates the brain. You are
forced to involve more senses to nd your way around, which keeps your brain alert instead of
mindlessly driving home or to work on familiar routes.

Avoiding ruts and boredom is critical to keeping your brain sharp, says Eagleman.

2. Repeat it out loud

In order to remember anything you have just read, heard or done, repeat it out loud.

For example, repeat out loud the name of someone new you’ve just met and you will nail the name
down in your mind.

3. Listen while you read

A study conducted at the University of Puerto Rico found that out of 137 Spanish-speaking
students quizzed about an English book they were given to read, those students who read the
book while simultaneously listening to an English audio version outscored the group that only
read on eight di erent quizzes about the book.

Listen to audio of something while simultaneously reading or watching it. You’ll engage more of
your senses and help your mind remember more.

4. Play crossword puzzles

Simple crossword puzzles and other word games like scrabble, where you rearrange letters and
make as many words as you can, stimulate the brain and improve memory.

5. Play chess

Don’t forget to play other brain-boosting, strategy games like chess and checkers. Logic-based
numbers games like Sudoku can also keep your brain t.

6. Learn a musical instrument

Start playing a musical instrument. Studies show that learning something new and complex over a
longer period of time is bene cial for the aging mind.

7. Play a new sport

Start playing a new sport that utilizes both mind and body, such as tennis, golf, or even yoga.
Athletic exercise like these will not only improve your physical tness, but also your mental tness.

8. Learn a foreign language

Enroll in a foreign language course online or at your local education center. It will help to sharpen
and rejuvenate your brain.

9. Draw a map from memory

When you return home from visiting a new place, draw a map of the area from memory. Expand
this brain exercise by drawing maps of your commute, neighborhood and other areas to enhance
memory.

10. Cook a new cuisine

Take a cooking class. Learn how to cook new cuisines. Cooking stimulates di erent parts of the
brain and di erent senses including smell, sight, and taste.

11. Do chores with eyes closed

Try washing the dishes, sorting laundry or taking a shower with your eyes closed. This will force
your brain to use other neural pathways to get the task done.

Obviously, don’t do anything with your eyes closed that would endanger others or yourself.

12. Eat a meal using chopsticks

Chopsticks will force your brain to pay attention and give your brain a good workout, especially if
you have never used them before to eat.

13. Switch hands when doing stu

If you are right-handed, try using your left hand to do things like brushing your teeth and eating.

For example, if you are already good at using chopsticks to eat, use your non-dominant hand
instead to challenge your ne-motor skills that are controlled by the nervous system consisting of
the brain.

14. Connect with new people

Every time you connect with other people, you expose yourself to new ideas and other ways of
thinking and doing things. This stimulates your mind and widens your world view and thinking
process.

So, be open to traveling more and attending shows and events to meet and interact with new
people. It’ll keep your mind in tip-top shape.

15. Savor di erent avors in meals

Challenge your taste buds by deliberately savoring your meals. Try to identify the individual
ingredients in food, including subtle spices and herbs for a tasteful burst of mental stimulation.

16. Do math in your head

Don’t always rush to use a pen and paper, or a calculator to gure out math problems. Try to do
them in your head. Make things a little bit more interesting by working out math problems in your
head while also walking.

17. Practice meditation

Training your mind to be quiet is not always easy, but it can be done through meditation.

Some of the bene ts of practicing meditation include stress reduction, improved learning ability,
increased focus and attention, enhanced memory and mood, and also reversal of brain atrophy.

18. Memorize phone numbers

By memorizing people’s names and phone numbers, you strengthen connections between your
brain cells, which can make a big di erence for your memory.

Divide 10-digit numbers into sections, such as 801 665 9378 to make it easier remember. It is
arguably easier to remember 801 665 9378 than 8016659378.

19. Take up a craft hobby

Craft hobbies like knitting, drawing and painting are now getting more attention for their brain-
boosting powers.[4]

Take up any craft hobby of your choice to strengthen your ne-motor skills and boost your
brainpower.

20. Tell stories

Telling stories stimulates the brain through recalling and recounting important details. It also
helps you remember events and associate emotion with memories.

Storytelling is so good for memory it is used to improve the lives of people with in Alzheimer’s
disease.[5]

21. Create new acronyms

Come up with your very own clever acronyms whenever you need to memorize something in a
hurry.

Creating original acronyms or mnemonic phrases, where you use the rst letters of words within a
phrase to form a name, can sharpen your brain and assist in remembering more.

22. Visualize what you want to remember

Let’s say you want to remember to buy an item you need from the supermarket. Picture the items
on your shopping list balancing on parts of your body.

For example, imagine balancing an egg on your nose, a bottle of milk on your head or a package of
cheese on your shoulder. It’s fan and you won’t forget that image.

23. Vary aspects of your surroundings

Vary things like the music in the background, time of day and whether you sit or stand when doing
something to increase recall.
The theory is that the brain associates words (or whatever you are doing) to the context or
environment around you. The more contextual cues you provide your brain, the more it has to
draw upon when trying to remember speci c things.

24. Space out your learning sessions

Cramming is not always the best way to learn or remember things. Instead, review the information
you want to learn or remember (statistics, foreign vocabulary, historical dates, scienti c de nitions,
and so on) periodically over time. By spacing out your study sessions throughout the day, you learn
more.

Psychologist Hermann Ebbinghaus discovered that he could learn a list of nonsense words if he
repeated them 68 times in one day and seven more times before being tested the next day.

25. Sleep on it

Get enough shut eye each night. The brain needs six to eight hours of sleep, or at least two cycles
of deep sleep each night to complete the necessary chemical changes needed to integrate new
skills and information into long-term memory.

Remember, your brain thrives on variety to keep those synapses ring. Exercising your brain with
activities that are challenging, novel, and complex will help you to remember more and keep your
brain t.

Read Full Article  (https://www.lifehack.org/804141/brain-exercises-for-memory)

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