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5 Great Ways To Improve Memory Recall

By Operation Meditation

Wouldn’t it be great to be able to remember an article you read in the paper yesterday, recall anniversary and birthday dates, or quite simply remember where you left your keys. The problem is our memories don’t get any better as we get older. However the good news is that there tips and techniques which can be used to enhance our memory retention, whatever age we are. In fact, given time and practice, it is possible to get to a stage where we can remember astonishing amounts of information. Let’s take a look at some top tips for ways to improve memory recall.

1. Think positively

The first step to improving your memory is to be positive. This is often a stumbling block for many people as they have already resigned themselves to the fact that they have the ‘memory span of a goldfish’ or that they ‘just can’t remember names’. You just have remember (no pun intended) that your memory will improve, if you put the work in.

2. Memory pathway

Among the many different ways to improve memory, one of the most popular is through a ‘memory journey’. This works particularly well for lists. The more outrageous/obscure and even rude you make the memory journey, the easier is is to remember. Here’s an example…it’s straight off the top of my head so you’ll have to forgive me for being random. Let’s say you have to remember a shopping list of apples, tea and soap. I would say that “a group of apples were invited to a tea party, but before they were allowed entry, they had to wash their hands with soap”…. and so on and so forth! This can go on ad-infinitum and allows you to be really creative.

3. Chunking

This is a technique that’s best used when dealing with large lists or numbers. For example if you read this number list 17761812184818651898 they probably don’t mean much. However if you put a dash after every fourth number the become key events in American history starting with the Declaration of Independence, the War of 1812, Mexican American War of 1848, End of the Civil War, Spanish American War.

4. Repetition learning

We have a tendency to remember things better if they are repeated. So repeating things or seeing pictures of events over and over again really helps. Flash cards are always good for this type of learning, so maybe have a question on one side, and the answer on the other.

5. It’s all in the breathing

Believe it or not, studies have shown that even light meditation can make you more receptive to remembering things. When we are relaxed and breath deeply and slowly, we change the way our brain works in that the electrical impulses contained within the brain switch to theta waves. Theta waves occur naturally when we are in deep or hypnogogic sleep. This is the stage where any outside noises/influences can trigger dreaming. This is also the place where we can recall memory. An example of how this works is with the ‘tip-of-the-tongue’ syndrome. How many times have we pictured something, but fail to recall it. This can be so frustrating as the more we struggle to recall it, the less we remember. However it will often come back to us in the middle of the night. This is because your theta waves have been engaged. To engage the theta waves naturally simply breath deeply and slowly from the stomach. You should after a few minutes feel calmer and this is when theta waves are flowing. As a result you are far more receptive to remembering information.

So there you have it…5 great ways to improve memory recall. If you can follow these tips and techniques, then you can be sure you’ll never again forgetting where you parked your car.

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